What I am in the Mortal World
by Arisuke
Summary: Set after the Soul Society Arc, but traces of the past to the present. Well, I suck at summary so this is what I can say.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I don't own Bleach, except for this story and the characters. The characters are just works of fiction, not more than that.

Bleach: Just another former Shinigami

Chapter 1: What I am in the mortal world

My name is Arisuke Takahashi and I am sitting on my bed, looking out the window. The window was facing a main road and across it, a 24-hour convenience store. It was nice to see people coming in, buying things and coming out in the middle of the night. The untainted air, the quietness of the night with sometimes the sounds of passing vehicles, it was peaceful. Some nights were just so beautiful with the stars up in the sky, except for a few Hollows that disturbed that peace. When it rained, it sounded nice and calm. It almost reminded me sometimes of the other place, but the place was too far away for me now.

I am working at a supermarket, carrying the goods to the storage room and refrigeration room, and sometimes helping to fill up the racks. This particular supermarket was a 20-minute walk from my rented room and lately, I began to work on a part-time basis from 7-to-3, five days a week. I always have my dinner at a small diner in that housing area, but I sometimes bought my food at the convenience store. Working at the supermarket made me feel a bit disgruntled for all the skills that I learned. Still, it was much better than staying and doing nothing in Rukongai and looking at the walls of Seireitei.

I joined a local kendo dojo and because of what I learned in past, I rose quite high in the ranks. It was just six months after I joined the dojo that I was offered to become a junior assistant instructor. I was honoured to accept it and felt very happy.

I don't usually recalling my past in the night like this. I usually listened to the calm surroundings where there was very little activity and looked high up in the sky at the stars and go to sleep. However, tonight, I can't seem to forget the man that came earlier this evening while I was training my students in the park.

"Arisuke Takahashi, I presumed," said the man suddenly out of nowhere.

"Yes, and you are?"

"My name is Hyuro Nikatama. May I speak to you privately?"

"What is this all about that you want to speak with me privately?" I asked with a voice high enough for every one of my students to notice.

He grinned and looked at the students, "Something that concerns loyalty to Yamamoto-Sotaicho."

"Yamamoto who? What are you talking about?" I asked, pretending not to know.

He grinned again, "Don't pretend, Takahashi…," he got closer, "former 8th Seat of 1st Division."

Now that got my attention. "Just who are you, exactly?"

"If you want to know, follow me then," he said and took off to another part of the park.

I ordered a senior student to continue on the training and I followed the stranger. He stopped suddenly and gave me a card. On it, the card read in capital letters: **_FALLEN CRUSADE_**. Underneath those words, there was an address and that was all in the card. I grinned and shook my head at its simplicity. Still, the capital words sounded very familiar, as if I read about it from somewhere, but I can't place it.

"I think you know what Fallen Crusade is," said Nikatama.

"I heard it from somewhere, but what does this concern me? And how do you know my name?"

Nikatama smiled, "You will get more and better answers if you go to the address. Be there or be square." With that answer, he just left.

His answer was rather cheesy to me. I don't intent to go at all, but my curiosity kills it. Tonight was quite peaceful and I finally slept soundly.

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This is the first time I am writing a fan fiction, so please read and review it. Please give constructive criticism if you have any. If any part of this story is familiar, please tell me and I will try to change it.


	2. Remembrance

Author's Note: See chapter 1

Bleach

Chapter 2: Remembrance

I remember. I remembered my life in the real world before I died. I remembered my father teaching me the basics of martial arts and philosophies of life. I remembered disturbing my sister all the time, especially during winter when I always throw snowballs at her. I remembered all the nagging from my mother for my naughtiness. Those were my happy times in the real world. Unfortunately, the memories of my family's death were part of what I remembered.

My father was a middle rank samurai serving in Tokugawa Shogunate. He was more of a loyalist to the shogunate than to the newly-established Meiji Government. Even thought I was eight at that time, I was old enough to have my suspicion that my father was against the new Meiji Government. I don't know if there was plot or whatsoever, but that night was the night that causes my family and me to pass over to Soul Society.

I was sleeping with my parents and my sister when shouts woke us up. Shouts from our servants told us that there were intruders. We also heard weapons clashed and shouts of death. It was terrifying for me to hear it.

My father suddenly went out with his katana. We heard more clashes and after a few minutes, we heard footsteps. I was hoping it was father. My mother took a naginata that was placed in our room, just to be sure. Her actions were justified.

Three men wearing green kimonos came in. Each of them had a katana in their hand. I was afraid at that time, but I strengthened my heart to look at them. I heard my mother ordered my sister to take me and run away while she held them back.

My sister took my hand and ran out of the window. We immediately ran towards the back door, but before my 15 year old sister managed to get out of the house, she fell to the ground. I looked back and saw her groaning in pain. On her back, there was wakizashi sticking out. She urged me to run, but I was afraid and reluctant to leave her behind.

Three men in green came to our view while another two stood outside the back door. It was then that I noticed my surroundings. Two dead servants were beside the door while three of my father's guards were on the ground in a pool of blood.

As the men in green moved nearer, my sister still urged me to run. Suddenly, the fear in me just vanished.

"I will not leave you, Tomi," I said.

"Just leave me, Ari, please!" she said, crying.

"Maybe you should listen to her, kid," said one of the men, "but it would be unwise to us."

"I do not want to do this, but for the future of this country, I'm sorry," said the man next to him, readying his katana to stab.

I stood by my sister, trying to protect her. What I got was pain on my chest caused by something very sharp. I looked down at my chest and the blade had pierced through my body. I coughed and I noticed my blood was coming out.

"Noooooo!" cried my sister and that cry was the last thing I heard as a living person in this world, and then all went black.

I suddenly woke up with a start and there he was. A man in black was standing over me, holding a sword. However, unlike the ones I previously saw, he was wearing a shihakusho.

"It is a shame to see a boy this young die like this," he shook his head as a female who was also in the same clothes came behind him.

The woman was shocked looking at me that she almost cried. The man then kneels down to level with me.

"Are you going to kill me?" I asked with an angry voice.

"No, we came here not to kill, but to help people."

"Help? What do you mean 'help'?"

He looked down to the ground, "I know it is hard to live, but I can guide you to a better place." He began to raise his katana.

Fear crept to me again, but instead of slashing, he stamped the end of the hilt of his katana onto my forehead. After that, I felt warmth.

When I opened my eyes slowly, the sun was shining on me and there was fresh air. I suddenly remembered what happened to me and quickly checked my body. I felt strange as I vividly remembered that I was stabbed, but the wound was gone and I felt much healthier than before. Then I remembered the man who stamped my head. I looked around and it seemed to be a good place and very much like home.

Yet the place was unfamiliar to me. A lot of trees that made into a jungle were not far away from where I was lying. Grass was cushioning my body and I noticed that I was at the edge of a small town. The grass was between a river and a main road that was leading to the town. Seeing that my family was not with me, I got agitated and watched the town, wondering if I should enter it.

"So you're a newbie, huh?" a male voice rang to me.

The voice caught me at unawares. I quickly turned to face the man. He appeared to be in his early twenties, muscular and good looking. He wore a red sleeveless shirt with matching pants, and boots that covered his lower legs. He was carrying a sword on his back, but it was not a katana at all. Basically, I don't know what kind of sword it was.

"Rather jumpy you are. Well, good luck in staying this 'indifferent' place. Unbelievable," he sneered, shook his head and begin to walk away.

"How do you know I am new here?" I asked as I followed him

"Those who come here from the real world for the first time always have a cleaner look. They always do."

"How do you know about that?"

"I had travelled a lot to know about this."

"What exactly is this place?"

He stopped and looked at me, annoyingly, "I told you that people come here from the real world. Can't you figure that out?"

"You mean to say that people are able to come here from real world and return as they please?"

"How stupid can you be?" he muttered and shook his head. "Understand this, all right. People that died in the real world, their spirits come here to this spiritual world. You died in the real world and your spirit come here, understand?"

"So spirits inhabit this place?" I asked, remembering what the man in black said to me about a better place.

"Yeah," he answered. He then continued his walk.

"Can you tell me what is this place called?" I asked as I evened my pace with his.

"This spiritual place is called Soul Society and this town is the 70th District, East Alley of Soul Society."

I suddenly got down on all fours and cried. Passer-bys looked at me and swordsman but they didn't care to ask.

"My family. Have you seen them?"

"Family, huh? If they are not with you, then it is impossible for you to find them in this world that has millions of spirits as its population."

I continued on crying.

"I'm sorry," he said, and left.

It was slightly more than two years now that I had been in this Eastern 70th District. In those two years, I managed to get into a place called the Protection House. This House served as an orphanage and a base of operations for our 20 stealing squads. Even though the building was called House, it was more of a mansion. It was big enough to house at most 200 children, but now it housed slightly more than 100 children.

Basically, almost every child in this House comprised the squads. Even though we hate stealing, having lack of money made us do this. Still, the administrator of this House, who preferred to be called only as Hiyato decided to lessen our guilt by planting some of the vegetables and fruits that we stole in our back yard. We didn't really worry about our water supply as this House was located by the river. Through this river, we sometimes had freshwater fish.

After living here for two years, I had learned a few things along the way. The biggest thing I had learned about this district was not to mess with the two triad gangs that resided here. Through a ramen seller that I had befriended, these two triads were previously at war, but they had been at truce for quite some time now. Instead of terrorizing the locals, both these gangs joined forces and decided to help to those who needed it. It was an unusual sight, but years of peace made the locals grateful to them.

I, for one, became quite respectable. A leader of a squad and answer directly to Hiyato. Well, actually all leaders of the squads were able to answer him directly. The thing was, he won't speak to anyone else, except to his assistants, leaders of the stealing squads and anybody that he WANTS to speak. Even though he doesn't speak much, he made every conversation that he made worth while.

There was one night which was memorable to me, even though we became close friends after that. I was lying down on the roof top, looking up at the stars, which I did almost every night, when Hiyato came up.

"Why you always come up here?" Hiyato asked.

"The stars. Aren't they beautiful?" I replied.

He looked up, "They are, but they cannot last forever."

"I know. They just calm me down, you know. They might have their own problems, but they always tell me that they will pull it through."

"That is why I always like to talk to you. You can make everything so inspirational," he chuckled as he sat down next to me.

"Orders, I presumed?"

"I want your squad to cover the north side tomorrow. Details are as usual at dawn. Okay?"

"Okay. By the way, may I ask you a question?" I asked before he could manage to get up.

"Sure. What is it?"

"First of all, don't be angry at me."

"All right."

"Why didn't you become a shinigami?"

He gave a hard look. "How do you know that I have reiatsu?"

"I was taking an evening walk when I saw you by the river. I wanted to tell you the status of my squad at that moment, but you suddenly create some sort of energy ball from your hand. So I hid behind a tree. Too afraid to talk to you at that time."

"When was this?"

"Two days ago."

"How do you know about the shinigami information?"

"I heard it from passing travellers. I also heard that Seireitei will only take in people that have reiatsu. It seems that living as a shinigami is better than living in these conditions."

"Do you believe in fate, Arisuke?"

"Yeah, I do," I answered as I looked at him, wondering where he was heading in this conversation.

"Being where I am right now is my calling of fate. Not in Seireitei. What about yours?" Hiyato got up and left, but before he got down from the roof, he reminded me to sleep early.

The question of my fate got me worried for a while. I always wondered what fate was installed for me and always hoped it would be a good one. However, knowing life as it was, fate is always out of our hands.

It had been almost another 11 years now being in this Protection House. In those years, many of the residents had come and go. Those that went away, some had died while some had found a better life in better districts or Seireitei. Out of 20 leadership positions, 10 had changed hands. Most of the children that came to the House were new in Soul Society. I still remembered what that man said about spirits that passed over from the real world. Now I know that the man and the woman in shihakusho were shinigami.

The number of residents in the House had increased to nearly 170 in this past 13 years. The little farm in the back yard doesn't seem keep up with the growing need of 170 people. This demand of food increased our stealing activities, which I still don't really like.

Those who came in were varied. The most notable and spectacular newcomer was a girl, which herself was quite spectacular. She came about six years ago. She was just an average girl of average height. She was not fat or plump, just that she was femininely muscular for a girl. Not only that, she knew how to fight. Her name was matching with her snowy white hair, her name was Yuki Kuriya. She was the only girl in the House who had white hair. I remembered that she fought with the boys and managed to beat some of them just to join in the Protection House. I also remembered that she easily beat the most skilful female fighter of the House. Now that was what I called intimidating. It was also because of that she had only a few friends. However, lately she began trying to make a larger group of friends, but she was always considered as an irritant.

There was one day that I apologised to Kuriya for treating her as an irritant. She cried on my shoulders. From that day, we became friends. That was the most memorable thing I had with her.

There was another girl that came just last year. She had long black hair that reaches her shoulders, slender body and a sweet face. Even though she was not that popular, she still managed to attract some boys. Whatever the reason, I some how had a sense of protection for her. Maybe because she reminds me of my sister. Both of them share the same personality of being shy, hardworking and able to do house chores. I remembered introducing myself to her and advising her on the circumstances of life. She took her situation quite hard at first, but she got used to it with some of our help. Her name was Kori Yamada.


	3. The Declining

Author's Note: Look at Chapter 1. Please I beg you, read and review this story. Just review whatever you want to say, but at least give me constructive criticisms so I improved my writing.

Chapter 3: The Declining

I'm 21 years old this year, yet I don't look my age. I counted twenty times each year. Twenty times. Ten times on my height and another ten times on my age. I only grew up half my size and that made me looked like a 15 year old. I know the concept of aging slowly, but I don't understand why we can't just look as old as our age.

"This is the third time you are drenched from the waist down, Arisuke," Hiyato said as he walked towards me. "It seems to me that there are two places that you like."

I turned my face to him, "Tell me, man. Why can't we grow according to our age?"

"Well, all of us are spirits. Spirits aged much slowly than the bodies in the real world."

"I know that, okay. It is just that I felt useless knowing that I can't do anything."

"I'm sorry about your squad member."

"Sakamato."

"What?"

"His name is Sakamato. And give your condolences to Mira, his girlfriend; she needed it more than me."

Hiyato just nodded. "So 3 losses in 13 years. I only know a few who fared better."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I looked at him with an angry tone.

"It's a compliment, Arisuke. No offence."

I just looked away from him, "Sakamato died peacefully last night, in Mira's arms, with all of us around him. I just wish I could do something more."

"There is nothing you can do, Arisuke. These kinds of things are beyond our control. Where exactly did you find him?"

"In an alley that connected to 1st street of south side."

"1st street of south side? Are you sure you found him there?"

"Yeah, I did. What wrong?"

"1st street of south side is the headquarters of the Black Lotus Gang."

"What?! Headquarters of a street gang? But Sakamato didn't do anything to offend them," I said. Suddenly I remembered. "Oh shit."

"What?"

"Before I found him, I saw people carrying a lot of dead people lying on the ground on 2nd street. Many of them wore two distinct colours. One group was in black with a white lotus on their back while the other wore blue with a yellow flower. I didn't take notice of them much at first because of Sakamato. The fight was in 2nd street, but why was he wounded in the 1st street?"

"I don't know, Arisuke. But Shin was wearing blue, ain't he?"

Then it hit me. "Damn it," I cursed, clenching my fist. "He was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Damn trigger-happy Black Lotus members killed him. It is hard to believe that."

Hiyato sighed and mumbled, "Nothing is shittier than that, huh?"

For the next few minutes we hardly spoke. "I assume that the ones in blue were members of the Blue Sunflower Gang. It looks like both gangs were starting to fight with each other, but I thought there was a truce between them."

"They did, for almost thirty years. However, with the change of much younger replacements in leadership of both gangs just last year, tensions between them seemed to rise."

"Change of leadership? Last year? How do you know about all of this?"

Hiyato looked at me, "How do you know about the gangs?"

"I heard a lot during the stealing excursions and my squad and I always encounter both the gangs. And you still haven't answered my question."

"How I got it is immaterial. Besides, along the way, you should already know about this."

"I don't really care much about the information, Hiyato," I said. "So that is why my squad and I kept seeing skirmishes between them. Why didn't you tell us earlier about the change of leadership?"

"I never thought their relationship became this bad. Besides, how does the change of leadership help us? I was hoping that truce would go on though," he sighed.

"By the way, where is the Blue Sunflower Gang's headquarters?"

"Their headquarters was formerly in 3rd street of east side. But they moved somewhere in the south side, I just don't know where exactly. Why?"

"Just asking."

There were another few minutes of silence.

"You and your squad take three days off, all right. Arisuke, do you understand that?"

"My squad and I still can work, even today."

"I know. But that's an order from me," he said and began to walk away. Suddenly he stopped, "Oh, before I forget, the girl with the white hair had asked for a transfer to your squad and I approved it."

"Kuriya wants to come to this squad, huh? When?"

"Anytime soon," he replied and walked away.

I shook my head, frustrated at how fast squad member can be replaced.

Three years had passed since my conversation with Hiyato at the riverside. A lot of things happened in these past three years. With Yuki Kuriya's help, my squad's performance had become increasingly better, with a good reason. With all of my original squad members already left the House, I became the only original member of my squad still living here. The new members were somehow unable to keep up on the way I worked. Only Kuriya understood how I work and helped the new member in simplifying my orders.

As the conflict of the two gangs intensified and the recent rumours claiming that both gangs were trying to recruit people and also the expansion of their influence to the whole district, Hiyato had placed a restriction on places of where we shouldn't steal. And those places kept on increasing.

Since the conflict began three years ago, I had seen a lot people moving away from the 70th District for the fear of the gangs. Those that came as passer-bys, only stayed for a few minutes for a quick take-away of food. Those that came with the intentions of living here permanently, they only stayed here by the end of the week before leaving. And lately, new spirits never seem to arrive here anymore. I don't know why but all I can think was that they either joined one of the gangs or managed to get out of here.

As for us and the locals, the already permanent residents, some decided to just leave the district. Some joined either gang, but with all those skirmishes, the gangs never seemed to have enough members.

We also heard rumours lately that both gangs killed those that refused to join. I don't know if these rumours were true, but we did hear people mentioned that dead bodies were found in homes and other buildings.

Living here right now had become a much more dangerous. It was quite ridiculous actually. Just six years ago, all of us were living peacefully and the House was almost at its limit. But now, all of us were living in fear and the number of residents in this House was steadily declining. Our source of food became slightly scarce every time Hiyato imposed a place restriction, but the little farm in House's backyard slowly becoming abundant once again. One of the gangs will definitely be here, whether I like it or not. It was just matter of time.

The future. I started thinking about it more than a year ago. The current situation that this House was facing really made me think of what I should do in my life. I looked up in the sky. Stars were shining brightly tonight. I almost slept when someone called me. It was Hiyato again.

"Hi there," he said, as he lie down next to me. "What do you think of the current situation?"

"I don't know. Things just got worse out there. I just don't want to think much of it."

"You don't even think of escaping from this district?" he looked at me.

For a while there, I didn't answer him. "Actually, I do. Many times. Just that, where should I go? I spend 16 years of my life here stealing. If I go to a better district, I would rather walk down a new path of life. If I still do the old job, I might as well stay here."

"What about the fighting skills that you learn? You were the first one to graduate from the programme that we did."

"You want me to become a bodyguard or something like that, is it?" I laughed.

"No, of course not. But do you ever think of joining one of the gangs?"

I sat upright and looked at him. "I will never join with any of those bastards. Are you working with one of them?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Arisuke. After what I've been through, I will never join with the likes of them."

"What you've been through? Just what happen to you exactly?"

He looked at me, "Good to hear that you hated them, but it is nothing that concerns you to know what had happen to me."

I lie down again and gave out a sigh. It was a while that he spoke again.

"Did Yuki Kuriya give you a scarf?"

"Yuki Kuriya? You know her name?"

"With the children getting less and less, it is easier for me to remember their names."

"Since when did you learn their names?"

"Last week."

"Last week, right. A scarf. Is she supposed to give me that?"

"She didn't give you?" he asked as he looked at me.

"No. When was she supposed to give me that?"

"This evening. I saw your squad returning without you as always on this day every week. Then I saw her immediately came out carrying the scarf with a big smile on her face. I don't know what happen, but I saw both you and Yamada walking together without her or even the scarf. It was a few minutes later that she came back with a sad face and the scarf still in her hands. Just what exactly happen at the river?"

I looked at him surprised, "Oh, I didn't know she was there at the river."

Earlier this evening, I was walking towards the river to refresh myself as I always do every Thursday evening. Before I even got to the river, I saw Kori Yamada in the middle of the river. Fortunately, the river was quite shallow enough for her stand. She was trying to catch the white flowers that were floating downstream.

I don't know the name of the white flowers, but it was beautiful and had a very sweet scent. That was the reason why I always refresh myself in the river with these flowers. The reason why I chose this day and time was because these flowers somehow float only on this day and time. Every time I refresh myself with these flowers, I felt cleansed.

Seeing her trying to catch one of these flowers, it was quite comical. She was trying not to get wet but at the same time she was rushing to get at least one flower. By the time she got a flower in both her hands, her lower body was drenched with water. The sun was setting behind her as she stood up with a white flower in her hands when something struck me. I never really noticed much before on her, but now, she looked beautiful. Amazingly beautiful. The light from the setting sun enhanced her beauty. I don't know what this new feeling was, but it felt good and I felt at peace looking at her.

I don't know how long I stood there, but she suddenly turned her face towards me. She somehow was not shocked seeing me there. It was as if she knew that I would be there. Her smile awoke me from my trance and I quickly went to the river. As I stood up with my face, hands and feet wet, she spoke up to me. I turned towards the voice and saw her already on dry land.

"I heard that you always come here."

"Where did you hear that from?"

"Mostly from your squad. Now I know why you always come here every Thursday evening."

"I felt cleansed actually. The cool cold water and the beautiful white flowers have some knack to it."

I closed my eyes, calming my mind with the sound of the river and the wind. When I opened my eyes, she was still there, holding the flower in one hand and looking at the other flowers floating downstream. I was glad that she was still there.

"Do you care to walk back with me?" she asked, with her face turning red.

I sensed a feeling of awkwardness from her. "Sure." I too felt awkward at this. We were friends, of course, but we never been alone like this before. This was the first of the two events that I fondly remember being with her.

"When did she knit the scarf?"

"The whole of last week."

I nodded, "I think she saw my expression towards Kori."

"Expression? What kind of expression did you make?"

I looked at him, "That is none of your business."

He chuckled. "Right. Well, I'm going to sleep comfortably on my bed. Remember, we will be having another farewell party this Saturday."

"I know, Hiyato, and you still haven't convinced me about the gangs."

"I joined neither of them, Arisuke. Whatever happens, I will protect the residents of this House. Don't worry too much about the gangs."

Worry. What I worry was not the gangs, but the residents here. All this while I never had any suspicion on anyone, but Hiyato right now was giving me some indication that he was a member or a former member of one of the gangs.


	4. Decisions

Author's note: I don't own Bleach and its characters, just this story. Please I beg you, please read and review my story.

Bleach

Chapter 4: Decisions

It was farewell party night. 12 of residents here in this House had chosen to leave, making the remaining resident reduced to 61. In all, 125 residents had left this House. Even the squads and the squad leaders were reduced to only 5. The reason of leaving was of course the conflict of the two gangs. The threat that they posed seemed to be a norm in the past 3 years. I was quite thankful that none of them joined either gang. Still I was hoping that they would stay a while longer. It really pains me seeing them go and the inability to change the situation kept depressing me.

Among the leavers, there was one that my squad and I were fond of. His name was Kusyo Haratame and for the past two years, he was my squad member. He was always the joker and always managed to make us laugh, yet he knew when to make jokes. With him gone, our morale just plummeted. It seemed that he was afraid of the gangs, like the rest of us, but the fear was too much for him I guess. Our discussion was not much and short that it felt pathetic to start it in the first place. It was kinda' sad, you know, a person close to you is going to leave yet you are speechless.

Everyone was having a good time, but somehow I noticed Yuki walked out the door. It was a few minutes later that I walked out too. Just as I got out, she was already sitting by the river, with her knees bend upright.

"What's wrong, Yuki?" I asked as I walked towards her.

She looked at me and said, "Nothing. I'm just not hungry." She then turned her face towards the river.

"All of us didn't take lunch today, Yuki."

"What do you mean?" she asked. Suddenly her stomach grumbled.

"Are you sure you're not hungry? Your stomach is grumbling."

"I'm not hungry, Arisuke."

"What is actually bugging you, Yuki?"

She sighed in annoyance. "You, Arisuke."

"Oh, okay." I began to stand up.

She sighed again. "Arisuke, I'm sorry. I just feel sad about everything. Most of the guys had already left the House, leaving only about what? 60 people left?"

"61 to be exact."

"I'm just afraid, Arisuke. Afraid of being alone. Afraid of losing you and everybody."

Hearing that, I wondered if she also meant of losing me to Kori or maybe my friendship. My relationship with Kori had become more than just friends. I don't know what I actually felt for her, but I don't care much of what I felt right then. I hold the left side of her shoulder.

"I felt the same way as you, Yuki. Sometimes I wish the situation we're facing never happen. In anyway, I am trying to cherish what we have right now. I think that is what you should do."

She looked at me again. Suddenly, she hugged me and cried, "I don't want to lose you, Arisuke."

I just kept quiet. "Come. I'm hungry too and they are waiting for us," I said after a while.

She stopped crying and stood up with me. I held her hand and guide her to the House.

It was after the party that Hiyato called on the five leaders to his room.

"What's wrong, Hiyato?" asked one of the leaders.

"The number of residents had steadily declined in these past three years. I'm afraid that there will be nobody left in this House in the next year."

"We know your concern, but with the threat posed by the gangs, there is nothing we can do against them," said another leader.

"We will come to a point where I need to stop operating the House. I know it is hard to accept hearing me say that, but I know that all of you are expecting this type of thing to happen. Just get ready for this kind situation, okay?"

"Hiyato, we are still strong enough to continue this House and to deal with the gangs, even though it is nearly impossible. Don't end it like this."

"To deal with the gangs? How? By force? We have only 61 people. The Black Lotus has more than 1500 members while the Blue Sunflowers has more than 1600 members. With their numbers that much and under control by new blood, what is the point of peaceful negotiations when everything can be done by force? No, we cannot deal with them at all. It is either we join one of them or die by one of them."

"Where do you want us to go if the time comes?" I asked.

"A better place that suits all of you. Anywhere but here."

"If we leave here, what about you?" asked another leader.

"Worry about yourselves more. At least the 60 of you can have a chance of a better life outside this district."

I was disturbed when he talked about the possibility of shutting down the House, but I felt more disturbed he mentioned how many members the both gangs had.

"What about the rest of us? I think they should know about your decision."

"I'll tell them when it is time."

The next two weeks, things were back to normal, only there were fewer of us now. The last few days, my suspicion grew in me about Hiyato and my feelings felt that a certain darkness was about to fall onto this House. Days passed by as usual, but it was this day that the darkness really came and almost made my decision to leave this district.

I got back home as usual with my squad, but when we reach the House, what we saw was what I always fear all this while. Two Black Lotus members were standing guard at the door. Knowing what they want, my squad and I decided to sneak in quietly and listen what was inside. Fortunately, the back door was not guarded. Once inside, I could hear an argument between two people. One was obviously Hiyato, while the other sounded so familiar.

"Come on, Hiyato. All of us knew that you cannot forever protect this House. And you know what we can do to you, your residents and the House."

"Is that a threat, Shinzo?"

"No, I'm reminding you of what we already did."

"Just what happen to you, Shinzo? You left us 7 years ago to join this gang because they share your vision of helping people. With the change of leadership and newer vision that contradicts yours, you still want to stay on?"

"People change according to the ever changing world, Hiyato. You yourself have been through this before."

"I changed for the better. What about you? Did you change for better or for worse?"

"We are the only ones, Hiyato that can protect this House and its residents from our rival."

"Protection? By you? The only protection you can give is to combine with your rival and together protect this district and its people, not fight with each other."

"Don't talk the nonsense, Hiyato. You know it is impossible now," said Shinzo, who was obviously angry.

"Then, it is impossible for me and the House to join your gang."

"After what they did to you, you are still loyal to them?"

"My loyalty is no longer useful to them, only to this House."

There was some silence. "Let's go, boys."

The members of the Black Lotus then left. As my squad and I went into the hall, Hiyato and all the residents looked at us. All of us gathered around Hiyato, but he gestured the five remaining leaders and his remaining assistant to his room.

"You heard everything, Arisuke?"

"Not all," I replied, "But enough to figure out everything."

"What are we suppose to do now, Hiyato?" asked one of the five remaining leaders.

"I think it is time to stop operating this House."

"Now?" all of us asked.

"Yeah," he said.

We reluctantly agreed and the same time, we were mentally trying to cope that we will no longer be staying here.

"Many of the residents are still new to Soul Society. All of which can be easily swayed. I'm sure by now that some of them are on their way to join the Black Lotus," said another leader.

"They are blind if they to do that, but I'm losing my grip on everything. I can no longer protect this House and its residents. Let them do whatever they want."

"You really want to let them go? Even if they join the gangs?" I asked.

"No, but I don't have a choice. I think all of you better pack right now. I want all the residents to leave as soon as possible."

"Why?"

"All of you heard the rumours?"

"Don't tell me you believe in it."

"Yeah, I do. I also believe that they might attack this House very soon."

All of us just shook our heads in disbelief.

"Hiyato, what does Shinzo mean about loyalty?" asked another leader, a question that caught my attention.

Hiyato just kept quiet.

"You were once a Blue Sunflower member weren't you?" I asked.

Hiyato sighed and continued to keep quiet.

"May I, Hiyato?" asked the assistant.

"No. I'll answer it. Yes, I was a former member of the Blue Sunflower. I was a team leader and Kuzo acted as my second in command."

"You too, Kuzo?" all the leaders asked.

"Yeah, I was."

"The reason both Kuzo and I are here was because of jealously that got into our way. Shinzo knew because we told him about our involvement in the Blue Sunflower Gang before he left House to join the Black Lotus. I think that should sums it up. Now go."

"What about you? Where would you go?" I asked.

"I'll stay here. To the end."

"I stay here too, boss," Kuzo said.

"Thanks. That really meant a lot to me."

We actually finished packing early in the night as we don't really own anything much. By now everybody had a clear idea of what was going on. The truth was, nobody liked this one bit.

Some of us had decided to stay back at the House. Most of them were just waiting to see what was going to happen.

Some had already left to join the gangs. Though I hate to see our residents wearing clothes that represent a gang, it was not my decision to make.

Those that wanted get out of the district had decided to leave the next morning. For me, I finally decided to leave the district, but I don't where I should go and what I should do. For Kori, she was willing to follow me in whatever I go. And it seemed that Yuki and two other guys decided to tag along with me.

Later that night, everything changed. We knew, through the rumours, that they might attack the House at any time. Just that we didn't know that the Black Lotus would attack so soon.

Still we took the liberty to appoint sentries to look out for anything unusual for the past two years. And it worked perfectly tonight.

Right now, all 43 of us had gathered in the Hall.

"What are we going to do now?" asked one of the girls, clearly worried.

"I want all of you to escape now. We don't much time," replied Hiyato.

"But how? The Black Lotus had surrounded this House in the radius of about 300 metres," said one of the boys.

"You don't need to worry about that," he said as he moved towards the centre of the group. "Kuzo, will you help with this? Everybody give us some space."

We moved away from him. I wondered what he was trying to do when both he and Kuzo took out the carpet. What we saw was unexpected. A trapdoor on the floor. Hiyato then opened it.

"Get in now. This tunnel will lead you to an abandoned house very near here. When you reach there, hide there until morning, and then run. Run away from this district."

"What about you, Hiyato?" asked one of the squad leaders.

"Kuzo and I will stay back to make sure that they will not notice the trapdoor."

"We will not leave you and Kuzo, Hiyato," I said, at same time getting agreement with the rest.

"Just go, damn it," he shouted angrily at us. At that moment, his body became bright, but not too bright to light up the house, and I felt a certain pressure coming out from him. I looked at the people around him. I can see fear in all of them and most of them bend their bodies and hold their knees as if to support themselves to stand. I felt the pressure, but it doesn't effect me that much like them. Only a few withstood his power, including Kori and Yuki. I wondered about this at first, but I put it at the back of my mind.

"Just go, okay?" he said, as he calmed down. His powers seemed to have subsided along with his anger.

All of us complied. The tunnel was wide and high enough for three people to walk abreast and stand.

"Arisuke, I want you to lead them as you are the oldest and the most experienced among them. Lead them out, lead them safely."

"I will. Yuki, take point."

"Yes, sir," she replied, as she took one of the candle lamps that was already made ready and went in.

"Every fourth row take candle lamp."

"Yes, sir," all of them replied.

It was midmorning already and we were restless. All of us barely slept since we came here to this house and I kept on pondering on what had happened before we came here. This house was actually an abandoned house about 400 metres west of the Protection House. Fortunately, no Black Lotus ever came through the tunnel or outside this house, even though we heard noises from the House.

Still, knowing their minds, I decided to send scouts to the House. I knew it was a risk going back there again but our concern for Hiyato and Kuzo was too great to bear.

By noon, the scouts finally came back. According to them, they found nothing in that place. Everything was in perfect condition except for a broken door and an overturned table. There was a little sign of struggle and the fact that there were no blood on the floor and both of them were not there proved that they were captured.

All of us discussed of what we should next. Some wanted to follow Hiyato's orders while some wanted to save both Hiyato and Kuzo. For me, I was struggling to decide whether to follow his orders or save them.

"I've decided. My squad and I will infiltrate and save them. The rest of you, go west to next district and wait for us at the entrance."

Some of them protested, but in the end agreed of what I said.

"Dilika, can you lead them?" I asked one of the remaining girls.

"I can. I see you there, Arisuke. Okay people, let's go."

"And stay off the main road."

"All right," she replied.

"Arisuke, do you actually know the Black Lotus headquarters?" asked one of my squad members.

"I got a pretty good idea. Why?"

"Nothing."

Even now, I still have doubts if this decision was the right one. Whatever it was, I have to stick with it. I only chose 10 out of the remaining 16 members of my squad for the rescue mission as we were the most experienced among the 41 people.

We reach the south side at about two o'clock in the afternoon and I lead the squad to the 1st street. The agility and hiding from all those experiences during the stealing activities made us invisible. We successfully infiltrated the Black Lotus and managed to find the lockup that kept Hiyato after a long time.

"Arisuke? Yuki? What are both of you doing here? Both of you are supposed to be out of this district by now," he said, surprised to see us after we hit the guards unconscious.

"Don't worry; there are only 10 of us from my squad. I'll tell later. Where's Kuzo?"

"I don't know. They separated us midway while coming here."

"We'll find him later, but right now you'll do."

At first, our situation was on our side, but when we reach to the main hall, things changed. The hall was suddenly filled with the members of the Black Lotus and we were surrounded. There seemed to be about 60 Black Lotus members.

"Well, well, well, I never thought your rescue would be this soon…" said a voice.

All of us looked the direction of the voice. A man separated from the rest of Black Lotus, wearing slightly different kimono than the others that showed he was the leader.

"And I was expecting more than just 10 to participate in this rescue. Now, tell me. Where are the rest of you?"

"Who the hell are you?" I asked.

"Who am I? You should be telling yours first since you intrude our headquarters. But since you asked, I'll tell you. My name is Benji, the leader of the Black Lotus. So I ask you again, where are the rest of you?"

"Why should we tell you?" I asked.

"Aren't you afraid to die?"

"You'll eventually kill us, so what's the point?"

"Kill you? Maybe, but you'll get to live longer until we find the rest you guys and for all your sakes, I'll grant you a quick death."

"So, this rescue was to be a trap?"

"It was. Under Shinzo's plan, you should have come later tonight. It seems right now that he underestimated you," said Benji.

"Then how do you know that we are here?"

"I found two of our guys unconsciously hidden in barrels," another voice rang out. It was Shinzo. "Since most of the guys are not here to make your infiltration easier, I ordered the remaining to execute the plan quickly," he continued as he stood beside the leader named Benji.

We suddenly heard shouts from the outside and it was very near. Because the door to the main hall was connected to the outside, it was very large. The door was suddenly jerked open and many people in blue shirts with swords drawn charged into the hall. The hall became a battlefield and confusion seized me quickly.

For one moment, we got separated. In that confusion, I managed to knock out one of the Black Lotus and got hold of his weapon. My eyes suddenly caught Benji duelling against Yuki and she was losing to him. He strikes her sword so hard that she fell to the ground. Her left hand was supporting her body from the ground and her right was still holding her sword. Benji then hit her sword again and it flew away from her hand.

I became very anxious when Benji lifted his sword and aimed at her. At that very moment when Benji's hand was beginning to move downwards, everything turned into dark bloody red.

A voice rang out in my ears, but this voice was very different. It was unlike mine or anybody else. It was more of an inhuman voice that said it.

"Finally, freedom!!"

The voice only said those two words. My mind was conscious of what was happening, but I felt something powerful overcame my body. The voice somehow knew of my strong desire to protect her and made me run towards Benji. I don't know how but this power had increased my speed dramatically. I was also unable to control my hands as it cut down 3 members of the Black Lotus fast and easy.

Knowing that I can't reach Benji in time, my hand threw the sword at Benji. I was expecting the sword to hit body and thus killing him, but instead it cut off his lower arm that was holding his sword. Benji shouted in pain and knelt to the ground.

My body moved so fast that I didn't noticed I was aiming my sword at Benji.

"Just who the hell are you?" he said with fear in his voice.

"Who am I? I'm the person who is going to enjoy mutilating a person like you." With that answer, I beheaded him. Then I heard his voice again.

"Thank you, boy."

I looked around and noticed that everyone was looking at me. The remaining Black Lotus members quickly dropped their weapons and surrendered. I saw the faces of Hiyato and rest of my squad members looking at me oddly. It was quite disappointing to receive that kind of faces after what I did for Hiyato, and the saddest thing was from Yuki. Her face showed fear and disgust. She was actually afraid of me.

I dropped my sword and walked out of the headquarters. The Blue Sunflowers were kind enough to make way for me. I suddenly felt the pain throughout my body and without realizing it, I was on all fours.

"I feel pain. Please stop the pain," I said, without directing it to the power inside me or anyone else. The pain was intense, and I tried to suppress it. Then I noticed that a glow was surrounding me. The glow slowly got brighter as the pain slowly subsided.

The pain was finally gone. So was the glow, but I was exhausted and felt faint. I dropped to the ground and face towards the sky. As the sun had just set, the sky was practically empty, but one particular star was shining brightly. The first star of the evening. Evening star. Then everything went black.

I woke in a room with the sun on my face and my body was on a bed. Sitting on a chair beside me was Kori. She smiled beautifully at very moment.

"How are you?" she asked.

"Feeling a lot better. Not tired anymore. How long was I like this?"

"Two days," she replied as she helped me to sit up and lean against the wall.

"What is this place?"

"The Blue Sunflower's headquarters."

"What?" I asked, puzzled.

"I know. I was confused too."

"You heard what had happen?"

"I did." She then pour water to a glass and gave it to me.

"Thanks. You've been here for the past two days?"

Before she could answer, Hiyato came in.

"Woken up already, huh? Kori, would you excuse us for a moment?"

She nodded and left.

"Thank you and get some rest and a hot meal," he said. He then sat down on chair. "Thank you, Arisuke. For coming back for me. Still, I would have preferred if you follow my orders."

"My mind already did, just my heart stayed here. How you know I woken up?"

"I checked on you every six hours, Arisuke."

"Every six hours? What time is it now?"

"Exactly noon."

I just nodded my head.

"Just what happen to you back at the Black Lotus headquarters?"

Pausing, I recall back then. "I just don't know, Hiyato. Everything was so blur," I lied, whereas I can actually remember and was unable to do anything.

"Are you hungry, Arisuke?"

"Starving."

"Come on. Let me carry you."

I found out later that Kuzo managed to escape his Black Lotus executioners and ran towards the Blue Sunflower's new headquarters. He seemed to still have connections to the Blue Sunflower Gang. Under Kuzo's leadership, members of Blue Sunflower Gang that were still conservative and those that still supported Hiyato made a coup within the gang by killing the aggressive new bloods.

According to Hiyato, the coup was possible because both he and Kuzo had met with the conservative leaders in secret for the past year at the abandoned house. With a coup in plan, they were just waiting for the right time. It was also pure luck that the new bloods let their guard down.

Hiyato actually knew the location of the new Blue Sunflower headquarter, just that he decided to not tell me. From what both of them had said, all of us were now in 4th street of south side of the district. That would explained how they came to the Black Lotus headquarters so fast. The idea of moving to the south side was not his or Kuzo or the conservatives, but the leader of the new bloods. He made the idea to cause confusion to the Black Lotus and as a direct challenge. The move was unexpected, but it did help in bringing down the Black Lotus.

Because of the success of the coup and the disbanding of the Black Lotus, Kuzo was chosen to become the new leader. Hiyato was actually chosen, but he refused and decided to become Kuzo's personal advisor.

According to Kuzo, when the new leader took over the Blue Sunflower four years ago, he made the mistake of not assassinating the conservative leaders and did not rule by fear unlike what Benji had done in Black Lotus.

From my point of view, the new leader did not make any mistake as he knew the conservatives made almost half of the Blue Sunflower Gang. It was unlike the Black Lotus where the conservatives were only one quarter. If he followed what Benji had done, the gang would certainly break up and will be easily subdued by the Black Lotus.

It was a few days later that Kuzo came to me.

"Join us, Arisuke. The Black Lotus had disbanded. The Blue Sunflower had reverted back to the old ways and basically every one in this district is safe. Most of the remaining residents of the House and all of our former residents had joined us. You could be one of our branch leaders."

"Most? What do you mean by most of the remaining residents?"

"Well, some of them had decided to go to a better place."

"And you could make me into a branch leader. It is quite an honour for giving me that offer."

"So, you want to join us then?"

"You do know what had happened to me at the Black Lotus headquarters, don't you?"

"Yeah, I heard, especially from those that saw you inside the headquarters."

"After knowing of what I can do, you still want me?"

"Hiyato can teach you how to use your reiatsu properly. You could be useful to us and this district"

I looked at my hands, and then I recalled what had happened. I became resolute of what I had decided right now.

"I'm sorry, Kuzo. I have to decline the offer and I cannot join the Blue Sunflower."

"Why? Is it because of what you can do?"

"My fate does not lie in this place, Kuzo. Besides, my powers are not something that Hiyato can really teach."

"So you're going to Seireitei. Is there any other way for me to convince you to change your mind?"

"None."

"When are you going?"

"If possible, tomorrow morning."

"Is there any other aside from you?"

"Kori, Yuki, Masuda and Ikanada had confirmed that they would come with me to Sereitei."

Kuzo nodded and sighed. "It will take you guys two days from this district to Seireitei. I'll prepare all the necessary things for you."

"Thank you, Kuzo. By the way…"

"Yes, Arisuke?"

"You knew that Hiyato has reiatsu. Why didn't he become a shinigami?"

"Hiyato actually thought of becoming a shinigami, but he never made it through the gates."

"He failed the entrance exam?"

"He didn't fail as he never took it."

"How do both you know about Hiyato's reiatsu?"

"On a mission. When he found out, he trained very hard how to use his reiatsu and at the same he was very popular with the locals and within the gang. Because of his popularity, he quickly rose through the ranks and earned the jealously of the some of the leaders. Immediately after we got kicked out, we quickly went to Seireitei."

"Why didn't you persuade him to take the exam?"

He looked at me and smiled. "It is a good thing to save people in the real world, but a lot of people in Soul Society itself also needed to be saved. He saw a big difference between the first district and this district. So he decided to set up the House and try to make a change in this district."

"Talking about the House. How did you and Hiyato have the resources to build the House?"

Kuzo paused for a while. "We have connections, Arisuke. Inside and outside of this district." With that he just left.


	5. 5A: Seireitei

Bleach

Author's note: Check out chapter 1, it's about the same anyway. Yet, I'm begging for the fifth time to give any kind of constructive criticism or review for this story.

Chapter 5a: Seireitei

The sun rose majestically out from the east. It had been three months now since the five of us arrived here in the 1st District of East Rukongai. When we first arrived here, we quickly went to the East Gatekeeper and told him of our intentions. He then told us that Seireitei will only take new students once a year at the start of the New Year, which happens to be at the end of this week.

We had been living for three months in a small house owned by an old lady, who was kind enough to take us in. According to her, she decided to make her home into free lodgings for those who wanted to become Shinigami after her own son joined Seireitei more than three hundred years ago. Our skill in controlling reiatsu improved greatly was because of her teachings in how to control it. Apparently, she got all the tips about controlling reiatsu through her son and those that successfully joined Seireitei.

Through the old lady, we found out that there were two tests with a supplement test to admit a potential student. The first was to examine whether or not the person have a certain level of reiatsu. The second was to test the ability to control the reiatsu, with a recommendation of a special class for those that weren't able to control properly. The supplement test was to differentiate the strong and the weak. Still, according to her, originally there was only one entrance test. It was because of a certain man with a child that made entrance test being the way it was right now.

In those three months, I begin to wander about Kusyo Haratame. He never said about where he wants to go, but I remember that he said he wanted to be in the district nearer to Seireitei. I don't know if he really living in one of the top ten districts, but we never met him in all the districts we passed through. But then again he might be doing some kind of job and that we might pass him unnoticed.

The first day of the two-day intake started on a Saturday and would only open at 8 a.m. until noon. The five of us decided to go there 30 minutes before the gate opens as we thought that there would not be too many people taking the entrance test this early. We were wrong. There were at least 50 people waiting at the gate and the number was growing rapidly.

A bugle was horned and the gate was finally opened. I was actually half-expecting that everyone would be rushing in, but with the presence of gatekeeper, everyone was lining up in utter quietness.

The crowd formed six lines that represented six tables with an examiner in each table. I can see all six of them were wearing shihakusho. All five of us line up in the same line that faces the second table. I was the last in the line, just behind Yuki. Seeing Kori holding a green card and showing it to us with a happy face made me feel very happy. I noticed that Yuki glanced at me with a sad smile. I felt a bit awkward, but I don't really care much about it.

It was interesting to look at how other people fare. Some of them were shouting happily while some whine and stormed off. There were others that begged so much as if they were begging for their lives.

"Good morning. Hold this please," said the examiner as he held out a small orb, enough to be held with one hand. "Hold it with both your hands."

"All right," I replied and held it with both my hands. The orb then glowed into bright blue. Apparently there were three colours: blue, beige and red. Blue means that the person has the required level of reiatsu. Beige means that the person has a way below the required level. Lastly, red means that the person don't have any reiatsu at all.

"Good. What's your name?" he asked as he took back the orb.

"Takahashi Arisuke."

He wrote my name down on a piece of sticker and gave it to me.

"Stick this sticker to your shirt and here is the green card. Congratulations, you passed the first entrance test. Please head to the second row for your second test," the examiner then pointed the direction to another row of tables and examiners. I looked at the second row and there were only four tables and an examiner in each.

"Thank you," I said as I joined my friends and quickly went to the second row. Out of so many people that tried, there were 20 that managed to pass the first row. But that was just the first one hour since the gate opened.

For the second row, there were four tables with an examiner in each. There was no equipment to initiate the test. As before, I gave my green card to the examiner and was instructed to create an orb of energy by myself.

I was quite nervous, but the training in the old lady's home paid it off. I managed to create it without any problem, yet somehow I was still struggling to maintain the shape and the flow of reiatsu.

"All right. Try to change the size," said the examiner.

When I heard that, I became afraid. I never train to change the size, but remembering from the old lady that changing the size was about the same as making a ball of energy.

"You're still struggling with your reiatsu. Are you new at it?"

"My reiatsu emerged more than three months ago."

The examiner just nodded her head and wrote down my name on some sort of list. "Fortunately for you, you don't need any special classes. However, you have to go through a mandatory supplement test."

It was what the old lady had said. The examiner then showed me to a third set of tables. There were only two tables for the set. This time I waited for my friends to finish. For this row, there were only 10 people, including us. Sadly, the other 10 weren't able to make a ball at all and were kicked out. Seeing this, I wondered why Seireitei was so strict about it when these 10 had the requirements.

When it was my turn, I gave my green card to the examiner and in turn gave me the same instructions with a slightly larger orb. I held it with both my hands like I did with the first one. It got brighter and brighter until it became too bright that the examiner just took it from my hands.

This time, Yuki and I were the ones that passed first, so we waited as usual. When we went into the hall, we were amazed at how big it was. From my estimation, it was big enough to hold for at least 500 people. We took our places and talked. Since we have nothing to do at all, we watched from the window at the people taking the entrance test.

By noon, about 200 people had filled the hall. And about half of them were males. I wondered if this was actually what the academy wanted. A balanced number of male and female students. And we got bored waiting for something to happen. Luckily, under the recommendation of the old lady, we brought our lunch as they didn't even serve any food at all. At the same time, a rather large person in shihakusho came into the hall with all the examiners.

"Everybody!!"

His very loud, deep voice caught everybody's attention, which made the whole hall very quiet in just a few seconds.

"Welcome to Seireitei, newcomers. All of you are here because of the prestigious career that Seireitei represents. A Shinigami. All of you will endure the gruelling training the Shinigami Academy has to offer and in time you will be able to become Shinigami."

There were murmurs of excitement and I can see a lot of people smiling. I too was smiling excitedly as I can't wait for the training to begin.

Towards the whole afternoon, there was orientation of what a Shinigami should do in their line of work. However, most of the time for the orientation was used for the work-out exercises. At first, I thought these exercises were lame, but I found out that the purpose of these exercises was to find out how much a person's stamina. Another exercise was to test our knowledge in martial arts. All four of us, except for Kori had proven ourselves that we were quite adept in it.

By 5 p.m., everything was sorted out. We were then told to follow the examiners to the Shinigami Academy.

Going through Seireitei was incredible. With what we had been through, Seireitei was like the whole different world. What a cultural shock to all of us. At the academy, we were separated by gender and were ordered to follow an assigned prefect to the respective dormitory.

When all of us got to the dorm, there were at least a hundred boys had already arrived there and taken their places. It was a surprised to all of us as we thought that we were the first ones to arrive. They revealed themselves to us that they actually came from lesser noble families. Some of them were so arrogant to speak to us, while some were quite humble to mix with us. It seemed that they were trained for so long and had taken the entrance tests just two days ago.

The dormitory itself was quite big, bigger than the House. Yet it only holds slightly more than 300 people. It can hold much more than the number, but it was very obvious that privacy was emphasized in the academy. There were 77 double-decker beds on one side and 76 on the other. On each bed, there was a pair training uniforms, three pairs of sandals and socks and many other things, including a kendo stick. The dormitory even had a row of private bathing cubicles meant for one person in each cubicle.

Looking at these things made me feel different. We lived in poverty in Rukongai and basically owned no more than what we wear. Only a few of us had the chance to get new clothes. I remembered about the scarf that Yuki apparently made for me. And Yuki never gave me the scarf since that day.

After placing the sticker on the bed of my choosing, I quickly bathed and lay down immediately. I felt so tired after all those exercises. And the classes of the new semester haven't even started.

It was the same thing the next day, and of all the people that were accepted in, there were still an equal number males and females. They filled the dormitory just nice. All in all, 612 people would be the new students for the new semester.


	6. 5B: Years in the Academy

Bleach

Chapter 5b: Years in the Academy

Year 1

On the first day itself, we were given free stationery items and textbooks that only covered a few chapters. As for the rest of the chapters that were required to be studied, we were told to go to the library or shared with a friend. From what I think, the academy was trying to teach us to be resourceful and teamwork.

To make things easier for the teachers and the students, all of us were separated into six classes, in which each class was consisted of about 102 students. I was glad though that all five of us were in the same class.

Through the classes, we were taught about the basics of martial art, _kidou _and general knowledge of things. At first, we didn't make any friends and the five of us tend to stay together. I guess it was normal for anyone to be with someone familiar than with a stranger in the new environment. However, as time went on through the year, we slowly made our own friends.

Of all the new friends that I made, there were only two that were close to me. The man's name was Asuka Tenzen and the other was a woman whose name was Shikamuri Nara. I don't know why, but being with these two was like being with old friends. Like me, they came from Rukongai but they were luckier than me. Asuka Tenzen came from 40th District of the northern Rukongai while Shikamuri Nara came from the 5th District of the southern Rukongai.

Shikamuri came from a lesser noble family, but she later explained that she was adopted into the noble family when she arrived to Soul Society. Her real family name was Mareda and she changed it to honour the Nara family's kindness. Asuka also shared the same fate that he was adopted into a family that treat him as a son.

The lessons of the first year were slow and easy. In my heart I wanted the teachers and instructors to quicken the pace, but I felt pathetic when I was one of the chosen people to attend extra classes in learning to use _kidou_ properly. Fortunately I was a fast learner.

Even though the lessons were slow and easy, the amount of work and training that they gave us were extensive. With classes that lasted for five days a week and extra classes on weekends, it was tiring. We barely even had enough time to actually spend time together. It's hard, but this was what I expected to become the best. The only time we spend together was the four week holiday at the end of the year.

Although we adapted into the life in the Academy, Masuda and Ikanada seemed to get wearied about it. When I asked them about their well being, Masuda just brushed it off as being a little tired and Ikanada said he haven't slept well since the start of the semester. These explanations somehow made the three of us worried. Yet it all depends on them, not with me.

* * *

Year 2 

Life in the second year was just as busy as the first, but not as hectic. We somehow managed our time more properly and got used to the busy life. Fortunately, the Academy gave us the leniency of having the weekends off. Still, considering the martial arts, _kidou _and textbook lessons, it was still pretty tiring.

At first I thought that the Academy gave it to everyone, but I later found out that Academy only imposed the leniency after the first year. The Academy certainly wants the students to get use to the busy life.

This year, there were two major changes in our lives in the academy that took place within the first month of the year. Firstly, we were segregated into the 1st, 2nd and 3rd classes based on our knowledge in our studies, martial arts and _kidou._ Unfortunately, Kori was the only one chosen to be in the 2nd class while the rest of us were placed in the 1st class. Kori's placing in the 2nd was reasonable considering that she was not well adept in martial arts. Only her knowledge in her studies and her strong control in _kidou _prevented her from going to 3rd class.

Secondly, we were required to form into teams of three to make our training much easier. And so happens that my two team mates were no other than Asuka Tenzen and Shikamuri Nara.

It was indeed easier with the training in a team of three. With all those training, the three of us came up with a kind of training that improves our martial art skills and also our reaction time.

Thinking about Kori, it was quite hard to imagine without her being in the same class. Still, we managed to spend some private time together. I was glad for that.

One of Yuki's team mates was Ariga Saga. He came in from some other class at the start of second year and now being a team mate of Yuki, he was supposed to be quite good in all the subjects. However, he was frequently beaten by her through martial arts and _kidou._ Knowing Yuki for a long time, it doesn't surprise me if she beaten him soundly.

The name Saga was quite well known in the South Alley of Rukongai for their generosity of money and food. Because of that, it was quite common for any Saga family member to invite friends to dinner every month. So, immediately after he was introduced to all of us, he invited us to the Saga residence for the monthly dinner. It was strange that we actually shared the same dormitory yet not talk to each other.

When I introduced myself to him, he gave me an odd look while saying my family name. He then mentioned to me about his sister-in-law that had the same family name. According to her, she had a brother who was 7 years younger than her, but she doesn't know his whereabouts since her arrival to Soul Society. She said that she had tried to search for him and her parents, but this place was too big for a single person to actually do it.

The moment I heard that, I thought that she could be my sister. But I don't why I brushed the idea off by making an excuse that there were many people that had the same name. I know that there was a tiny percentage that she could be my sister and with a story like that, that tiny percentage increased significantly. Maybe I was just too afraid to face her if she really was my sister.

Well, I declined the offer at first and he accepted quite well. However, for the next 4 months, his persistence on inviting me and the pressure from my friends made me finally accept his invitation. I didn't believe that he would extend his invitation for this long and with my friends already been to the Saga residence leaving me the only one left, I just comply with them.

True to my word, I went to the Saga residence on one weekend of the 5th month. We went to the 10th District of South Alley and toward an open field. At that time I wondered why we came here for, especially to an open field. It was a surprised that the Saga residence was much bigger than I expected and I was actually hoping that it was in the residential area. The location of the mansion was not too far away from the closest residential area and also a small stream.

The dinner was grand with at least 80 people in attendance. With all these people, it was very noisy dinner and I can see that Kori was enjoying the dinner. For the past year, I noticed that Kori was more comfortable with herself in making friends and I was happy for her. Maybe because of the three-man cell that the Academy introduced. Or maybe because of the Saga dinner. Or maybe because of us encouraging her to make more friends. Either way, she was progressing to make herself better.

Seeing Yuki right now made me wonder when the last time she was this happy. As long as I can remember, she was never this happy. Considering that she had only a few friends in the past, I'm glad that she made a lot of improvement. Still, I think that she was actually happy being with her closest friends, especially with me. She never said it, but if it wasn't for Hiyato, I wouldn't have known that she had very strong feelings for me. That somehow would explained why she made the scarf and why she preferred to be with me than with the others.

Knowing Yuki's feelings made me feel awkward every time I meet with her. Yet I felt strangely comfortable being with her than with Kori and since the day we became friends, we somehow develop a bond where we comfortably confided in each other. I'm beginning to question at this time about my feelings for Kori and for Yuki.

I looked up at the sky once again. This time, it was well into the night and I saw a lot of stars, but one star shone brightly as ever. It was the same star that shone since this evening. Somehow this particular star gave me some kind of motivation to continue on my life.

I was glad too for both Masuda and Ikanada as they seemed to be more cheerful and not wearied down by the Academy life for the past nine months. Yet at the same time, their grades were steadily declining. I talked about it with them before this dinner and shockingly, they still have the same problem. Mentioning this to Yuki and Kori, we managed to get both Masuda and Ikanada together with their team mates to train together with us.

As for Asuka and Shikamuri, I noticed that both were getting closer. I wandered if they actually like each other. Even though they were complete opposites, I'm beginning to think they could become lovers.

It was at this dinner that I came face to face with Ariga's sister-in-law. When I first met her, her features looked so familiar, but I don't remember where I had seen it. When I talked to her, I felt as if I was talking to a family member. I wanted to say this to someone, but I decided to keep it by myself.

Later that night after dinner, everybody that attended the dinner left, except for us. Under Ariga's sister-in-law's (whose name happens to be Hitomi) suggestion, we stayed at the Saga residence for the night. We then gather around the fireplace and talk about our past. It was some time later Ariga's family joined in.

Hitomi then spoke to me. When she questioned about my past, I answered her about my time in the East Alley. However, when she began to question on how I came to Soul Society, I simply lied to her that I forgotten about it. She then told us all she knew about her younger brother.

Then out of the blue, she said something that struck the chord. She asked me about a star-like birthmark on my chest. Hearing that, I tense up and quickly left under the pretence of taking fresh air. Passing through a garden that had many beautiful, scented flowers, I finally reach the stream. The moon was shining brightly tonight and it left a beautiful reflection on the water.

I collapsed to my knees, still unable to swallow her knowledge of my birthmark. I wonder how she knew about the birthmark, which it indeed looked like a star. I was actually surprised as it was Yuki, instead of Kori, that came to me. Still, I felt better having her right then.

"Are you all right, Arisuke?" she asked, as I stood up.

"I felt better having you around, but I was expecting Kori," I answered, knowingly that I probably had broken her heart.

"Do you want me to call her?"

"No, I want you to stay. I'm sorry, Yuki, for what I said earlier," I said as I looked at her, hoping that she would feel better.

"What do you mean, Arisuke?"

"About expecting Kori. I shouldn't have pushed you aside."

"It's okay, Arisuke. I know how you feel for her," she said, as she faces her head down. "You tensed up back there. Are you really all right?"

"You heard what she said, right?" I asked, looking at her.

"Yeah."

I opened my shirt and showed Yuki my chest against the light from the residence. She took a closer look at my chest and stood up immediately with a shock on her face.

"Why didn't you admit her as your sister immediately?"

"I was ashamed. Ashamed to look at her face if she is really my sister."

"Why are you ashamed of? You should be crying for joy now."

"I am," I paused. "Within hours of my arrival to this Soul Society, I found out that it was nearly impossible just to look for any member of my family. I immediately gave up looking for them," I said as I turned my back against her.

"It is not your fault, Arisuke. The odds are just against you…."

"I shouldn't have given up so fast, Yuki. I should have left the district when I had the chance. But I kept telling myself that I cannot find them with all these people," I said, unable to hold my tears.

A warm touch held my right hand, which somehow soothes me. I wiped my tears and looked at Yuki. She looked at me with those warm eyes and gave me a loving smile. I was glad to have made friends with her.

"That time you gave me your shoulder to cry on. Now, it's my turn."

I chuckled. "Yeah, I remember. All too well. Thanks, Yuki." She just smiled on.

Suddenly, there was a zephyr from somewhere blow at us. It was warm and refreshing. Then I noticed that some of the beautiful flowers were flying towards us. Before the zephyr died down, I managed to catch one. The flower produced one of the most enchanting scents I ever smell. The colour was light blue and it was matching with Yuki's snowy hair.

I looked at her. "Yuki, don't move." She looked puzzled, but she obeyed. I immediately put the flower on her right ear.

She was surprised and blushed. "I'm not a little girl, you know, to do this kind of stuff."

"I know. I never consider you as physically attractive, but right now, you do look beautiful."

"You mean to say that all this while you see me as an ugly woman?" she asked as she became irritated.

"Oh, I think we better head back and show my birthmark," I said, avoiding from answering her question. She quickly snapped from being irritated and followed me to the fireplace.

Tears of joy were the main event of the night. Everything was confirmed when we both relate the same event before we died and also showing her my birthmark. It was a surprise that both of us seemed to have forgotten our parents' names and their faces.

* * *

Year 3 

Our training in martial arts, _kidou _and studies became harder this year than the previous year. And unlike the second year, our schedule had become tighter again as there were extra classes on Saturdays. From what Kori had told to the rest of us, each class taught a different set of lessons to suit the abilities of the students that were placed in the class. As for the 1st Class, since all of us are good at our general knowledge, martial arts and _kidou, _the training was much harder than the second and third class.

For me, it was obvious that I was the weakest _kidou_ user in class even though I always scored over 80 persent grade in every _kidou_ exam. Ironically, I always scored a near perfect grade in the general knowledge and martial arts exams. Sometimes I felt jealous of Yuki, Kori, Masuda and Ikanada for being able to do well in _kidou._

Thinking about Masuda and Ikanada, this year they managed to consistently maintain their grades. A better achievement since last year. However, along the way Ikanada strangely became aloof while Masuda began to look very tired every single day. Worried for both of them, their team-mates were the ones who actually came to tell us about them.

When I heard that, I was frustrated at them. By this time, they should have adapted to the busy life. Yuki, Kori and I tried so many times to talk to them, but they persisted that they were fine.

By year end, Ikanada finally drop out from the academy and headed back to the 70th District of East Alley. It was a disappointing time for all of us. Yet his departure did not affect his team from continuing to perform well. I don't like it at all and I tried to stop him, but he insisted on his decision.

The last time I heard about him, he died of an illness four years later after he left the academy. I also heard that he actually lead a better life staying at the district. _A better life?_ It was unbelievable when I heard that for the first time. It was a mistake bringing him along. I'm beginning to wonder if he would be reincarnated into the real world or become part of Soul Society. I really wish that he would be reincarnated, he deserved much more.

* * *

Year 4 

Training exercises in the real world were organised this year and apparently would end on our final year. The purpose of these training exercises was to expose us to fight against the Hollows in the real world. And fighting against dummy Hollows in the real world was definitely a different experience than fighting on the academy's training grounds.

The real world proved to be a more difficult battlefield as the whole surroundings were beyond our control and the space of the battlefield was limitless, unlike the academy's training ground. Because of this limitless space, the dummy Hollows became harder to kill.

It was understandable, though. A battlefield could be anywhere that can be turned to our favour or against us. With that in mind, we also had to protect human lives and also try to preserve the buildings in the real world. Yet, we enjoyed going to these training exercises. At least it was for me and my team mates.

By year-end, Masuda finally drop out from the academy. Apparently, burnout from all these training was the reason of his departure. It was another disappointing parting for us. It was such a waste that he came this far. He headed to the West Alley, apparently to get some experience. And that was the last time I saw him for so many years.

He was not the only one though. Many others dropped out or been kicked out, but it was just the minority.

My relationship with Kori got closer almost every month. With the tight schedule, we only managed to be together alone only once a month. I felt glad having her with me. I began to think of having a future with her, but now was not a good time to actually propose her. Thinking about it, it was a stupid idea as we were still studying and I don't even have any money to support her.

Having the bond and the awkwardness with Yuki, we still maintained the friendship. Even though I teased her a lot and she gave me a hard punch on my shoulder as the result, I strangely begin to like her character more.

* * *

Year 5 

The most interesting year of my life. This year was the start of the usage of real weapons, which meant that we would use _zanpaktou_ in the real world.

Students from the 1st Class had gathered on the field outside the academy. We were waiting patiently for any of our instructors to actually start the _zanpaktou_ ceremony.

"All right 1st Class. Listen up," one of our ten instructors finally spoke up. "This year, as all of you should know that there will be the usage of _zanpaktou_ instead of your training sticks."

When all of us heard that, we shouted in excitement.

"Behind me, as you all can see, are exactly 179 _zanpaktou_s for all of you students. You can choose whatever _zanpaktou_ that you fancy, but don't be too picky about it. Once you have done, gather in front of me again."

All of us looked at the _zanpaktou_s eagerly as if it were a parade. All of us knew that each _zanpaktou_ adapted to the owner's martial art skills, power and personality, but everyone chose carefully as if each _zanpaktou_ had a different weight and feel.

I looked at each of it. All looked the same, but somehow there was one _zanpaktou_ that caught my eye. I don't see the difference at all, but somehow I got some kind of attraction to this _zanpaktou_. Anyway, I picked it up.

Once we had done choosing, our instructor spoke out to us again.

"All right, you all have done your choosing. I want to say one thing concerning your _zanpaktou_, so listen up carefully. From now on, your chosen _zanpaktou_ will be your permanent weapon. Whatever you achieve in the future is entirely up to you with that _zanpaktou_ of yours and you will start now."

We were surprised when we heard that explanation. We knew that we were going to use real _zanpaktou_ in the fifth year, but nobody told us that it would be our permanent weapon this early. I'm sure that none of the students expected this and it showed on their faces. I looked at my weapon and I just wished that I can perform skilfully to know my _zanpaktou_'s name.

"As usual, there will be three-man teams under supervision of your assigned seniors and don't worry, you will still have the same assigned seniors. The location of your real world training will be given to you within the hour. Now get use to the weight of the _zanpaktou_ and your respective seniors will tell you your location."

We had been training for the past 3 months now and I am slowly beginning to get used to it. Thanks to 12th Division this time, the dummy Hollows were built with artificial intelligence and it became harder for anyone of us to actually beat them with a _zanpaktou_. It was quite challenging and I never thought it would be so hard. Swaying around a real _zanpaktou_ wasn't what I had expected. The_ zanpaktou_ was quite heavy, even with the muscles that I build up. Still, with the strong teamwork from all three of us, defeating these dummies was still an easy task.

There was one particular evening that I felt uneasy and my face made it obvious to my friends. I don't know what, but I somehow knew that something bad was going to happen. With the assurance of my friends, I brushed it aside. What I didn't know that it was my turning point.

The 1st Class, as usual, was separated, with each three-man senior teams would be leading 10 teams of three to a different location. We arrived in the evening of the real world with our seniors. I'm beginning to wish for Yuki and her team to be here instead of an abandoned factory in a different part of this real world. It would also be great if Kori and her team were in the 1st Class.

We reach to an abandoned seaport. As usual, we were ordered not to wander outside our training grounds and obey any other rules. The security was just enough to warn us of any impending attack and escape.

We were in the middle of training when suddenly we heard a loud explosion, not too far away from our training ground. We wondered at first as to what had caused it. One of our three seniors then came and recalled us to our rallying point. As we reach there, the _Senkaimon_ had just been summoned. Shikamuri wanted to ask the senior when we heard another explosion that was very close to us and also inhuman shouts surrounding us.

"Damn it. They are getting nearer. Everyone, quickly go through the _Senkaimon_."

"What's going on, Karushi-senpai?" asked Asuka.

"Real Hollows are attacking this training ground. Now head back to _Seireitei_."

Just as our senior finished saying it, we felt a strange reiatsu. It was so strong that it almost binds us to the ground. As it came from above, we quickly moved away. The Hollow crashed down on the _Senkaimon_, making it disappear and also making the dust to envelop us.

When the dust settled, what I saw was the most horrifying thing I ever saw in my life. The Hollow was actually munching on one of our seniors. I can even hear the senior's bones being crushed. I quickly looked around and saw four other teams that were still here with the exception of two persons.

The Hollow itself looked horrifying. The upper body was humanoid, but its lower body was spider-like that had six legs. Its two arms were humanoid, but its fingers were tentacle-like claws. Each hand was holding a student. The mask that covered the face had three horns. One at the forehead and one at each side of the head. The horns somehow made the mask looked like a crown. Lastly, the Hollow was huge beyond my imagination. And it can talk.

"If I knew earlier that this would be easy, I would have done it centuries ago," it said, as he was about to eat another one.

Like the remaining students, we were afraid of the Hollow. Knowing that we were going to die faster if we don't do anything, the three of us began to attack the Hollow's head using _kidou_. We knew that our _kidou _attacks were weak to seriously hurt it, but we were hoping to make the Hollow let go of the two students. The other students began to join in the attack. With so many attacks, the Hollow became irritated and threw the two students away and jumped.

At first, I thought that the Hollow was escaping. Instead, it landed on our location and grabbed Asuka and Shikamuri. Even though I managed to avoid its mouth, one of its legs kicked me through a wall of a building. Resisting the pain on my back, I quickly got up, grabbed my weapon and ran out of the building.

What I saw outside was unbelievable. A few Hollows of similar size were chasing after the remaining students. I was stunned at first. _How in hell do we get out of this situation?_ Fortunately, the Hollow that grabbed my friends did not go too far away.

Using _shunpo_, I managed to catch up with it and at that moment, I never thought on how I should attack it. I just charged at it, determined to save my friends. I aimed for the Hollow's neck, but it saw me and blocked my attack with its right arm. The blade of my _zanpaktou _landed harmlessly on its arm and I noticed that the skin of its arm was thicker than its hand. Using the same arm, the Hollow quickly pushed me away and I landed just metres away.

"You think that I didn't see you, boy? Even at your _shunpo_, I still can see you," it said, looking at me. The Hollow then looked away and simply said, "He's all yours."

I was confused at first, but when Asuka and Shikamuri shouted to watch my back, I then realised and turned. Another Hollow with the shape of a rhinoceros with a big hump on its back was getting ready to attack me. Instead of charging me, it shot spikes out of the hump. I quickly jumped away, but it was too late. I managed to block a few of its spikes with my _zanpaktou_, but not all. Two spikes pierced my body; one at my abdomen and the other, my left ribs.

I fell to the ground with the spikes still in me. Losing so much blood made me feel faint and I couldn't even grip firmly on my weapon. The rhinoceros-shaped Hollow then removed the spikes carelessly and returned to the hump. I groaned in pain and the Hollow laughed as if it took pleasure of seeing me in pain. As the Hollow moved closer, I looked at my friends, whom I can still hear them calling out to me.

Fear of death gripped me for the first time after so many years. I mentally shouted at my body to get up as the rhinoceros-shaped Hollow began to get closer to me. Yet the pain was too much for me to move and without realizing it, I had gripped my _zanpaktou_ tightly. It was hard too believed that my life would end without ever knowing what was actually inside my body. At this time, I was hoping for the being or whatsoever in my body to take control.

"So what are you afraid of, Arisuke? Your friends are dying right now and you're doing nothing about it?"

I heard a man's voice, but this voice was different than what I can remember.

"Get up, Arisuke. Cast away your fear of death. Do you actually want your friends to die after they saved your ass from a quick death? Get up now, Arisuke!!! Help your friends!!!"

"The Hollows are too powerful for me," I said.

"Powerful? The only thing that prevents you from saving your friends is not the Hollows but yourself. You are a fool and a weakling thinking like that. Hollows are no different than Shinigami. Only experience set them apart."

Taking that as a constructive criticism, I finally forced myself up. Seeing me getting up, the rhinoceros Hollow quicken the pace and opened its mouth. I was able to see the second set of teeth behind the mask.

"Call my name now."

When I heard that, I realised that I was speaking to the sentient spirit of my _zanpaktou_. "What's your name?"

"My name is…."

"LIGHT UP, YUUHOSHI," I shouted

A new power surged into my body, and I was revitalised. The _zanpaktou_ changed dramatically. The hilt became larger, more of a western sword type of hilt. The blade maintained its length, but it became unusually straight. The width of the blade looked like two straighten katana blades had been welded together side by side. And there was no crossguard at all, connecting the hilt directly to the blade itself. One spectacular thing about my _zanpaktou_ was that it produced some sort of light, making it looked like it was glowing. So this was my _shikai_.

I jumped to the side, just in time to strike its neck. The Hollow then screamed in agony and disappeared. Then I looked frantically for the spider-like Hollow and found it opening its mouth ready to eat Shikamuri. Using _shunpo _again, I charged at it again. It was then I noticed that my usage of _shunpo_ had increased dramatically. I don't what kind of help my weapon gave me, but it reminded me of that time again.

Previously, I was unable to cut its arm, but now, with my _shikai_, I was able to cut both its arms, thus saving Shikamuri and Asuka. The Hollow then jumped away from me and made a defensive stance. I quickly glanced at both my friends. Thankfully they were a few metres away and by the looks of it, they were all right.

"Dammit. That Hollow sure is incompetent. You're going to pay for my arms boy," said the Hollow. As he said that, both its arms regenerated before my eyes.

I was stunned as I never actually seen this kind of ability. I only read from textbooks that Hollows with this kind of ability were advanced classes of _Menos Grande_. Both of us made our own battle stance and charged. As our backs faced each other, the Hollow finally spoke out.

"Is that all you could do to me?" it said referring to a small cut on the neck. It was going to laugh actually, but the Hollow immediately realised more blood were coming out from all across its neck. Blood also came out from its mouth and before the head landed on the ground, the body disappeared like the previous Hollow. I myself fell down to the ground and all became dark again.

I woke up in a room with the sun shining on me. At first, I thought I was back at the Blue Sunflower Headquarters, but the room was too white and I can smell disinfectants. Obviously, it was the hospital of the 4th Division. Nobody was around, but my _zanpaktou_ was leaning against the wall beside my bed. I managed to grab hold of my weapon even though I felt a slight pain on my abdomen and brought it beside me.

"Unbelievable," I said, holding the weapon above me. "I still can't believe that you let me know your name this early. Thank you, Yuuhoshi, for helping me out."

I spend the next two day for observation. The first people who visited me were my two team mates, but both of them were also in the hospital for observation. It was a great joy that the rest of my friends visited me during the two days. And I found out that my sister was unable to visit just because she's an outsider. Sometimes I find that the rules were too strict and stupid. Kori was quite emotional, but she didn't cry for me and I was glad for her presence.

Yuki was the last person to visit me during the first visiting period and how she greeted me was one of the most memorable memories. She came in, immediately slapped my face and hugged me. She never cried, but she did hugged tightly and told me not to get hurt again.

It was during this time also I found out that the joint forces of the 8th and the 13th Division arrived in time to the training ground to save the trainees.

I gained certain fame for achieving _shikai_ early and was given the title _senpai_. After a while though, all the hype finally died down, giving me a relief. Apparently the last person to achieve _shikai_ was a boy named Toshiro Hitsugaya, who later became the captain of 10th Division. When I heard that, I wondered if I could become like him. Yet, becoming a captain was not my objective.

There were a few more trainings during the first month and continued on until midyear. Immediately after the training though, most of the teams became seniors for the 4th year students that had just started. About the same time as us.

Right now, I'm puzzled. The being within me came out at that time was because I wanted to save Yuki. But this time, it was the same situation with my two friends, yet it was my _zanpaktou_ that came out, instead of the being. Until I find out the answer, I had to accept the being was moody.

* * *

Year 6 

Being the last year at the academy, we became very busy for the final exams. Our time as seniors was eased off after one year and that doesn't mean we slack though.

We took our finals on the first day of the 11th month and it lasted for 10 days. Even though it was easy for me to tackle the exams, _kidou_ was still a subject that I struggled. The results of the exams usually come out in the next month and the time in between would be our time off. I took this opportunity to be alone with Kori and also to be with my two friends in the Nara residence.

Everyone came back to our respective classes at the academy on the 16th day of the 12th month. As my friends and I waited for the results, I noticed that some of our classmates did not attend. I felt at odd since the exam results were the most important thing for us to become shinigami.

I was going to ask one of our classmates when our class teacher came in. She then told us the reason why some of the students were absent. It was because of the _Kidou_ Corp had already recruited them. We were shocked to hear that and I never thought the _Kidou_ Corp would actually recruit those who good at _kidou_ this early. Well, everything they do was secret and that actually scares me.

Each one of us received our results via the paper and we scrutinized it for a few minutes. Thank God I passed. While most of the students passed the exams, only a minority failed. It was another relief that Kori passed.

There was a simple ceremony to confirm our graduation. Each of us was finally given the formal _shinigami_ uniform – the _shihakusho_. Along with it, there were two letters. I opened mine and read it. The first letter reads:

_To Takahashi Arisuke,_

_Congratulations on your graduation. Officially you are now a Shinigami. As of such, you will be part of the Gotei 13 in which you had trained for the past 6 years._

_You had been chosen to become a member of the 1__st__ Division. Together with a supplementary letter, you are required to report in to the 1__st__ Division headquarters on the first day of the New Year. Be there at 10 am sharp._

That was the only thing there was and it was signed personally by the big guy himself. I read it five times and I still can't believe it. There was a mixture of joy and fear in me. Joy of being part of the best division and fear of disappointing everyone.

Kori was chosen to be a member of the 13th Division, while Yuki became part of the 11th Division. I was happy for Kori to be serving under the great captain. I was surprised that Yuki will be serving under that captain and his child lieutenant, but knowing her character I know that she can fit right in.

Asuka Tenzen joined the 8th Division while Shikamuri Nara became part of the 6th Division. My brother-in-law, Ariga joined the 3rd Division. All of them were ordered to do the same thing: report in to their respective headquarters by 10 am sharp on the first day of New Year.


	7. 6: Years in Service

Author's note: read chapter 1. Please give me any kind of review. Is this story too good or too bad for your taste that all of you can't give a review? By the way, thanks littlegerk for making this story one of your favourite stories.

Bleach

Chapter 6: Years of Service

Year 0 to 20

There was only one word I could describe about the 1st Division – incredible. They were the most hardworking, the most professional and the kindest people I ever met.

When they do their job, they were serious and deadly efficient. When they were off-duty, they either train in martial arts and _kidou _or study books related to improving themselves. For their leisure, they actually do normal things, but all of them usually play either _Shogi_ or _Go_ if they have nothing to do. I never saw such dedication in all of them. The most prominent feature that they have was that they were like Yamamoto _Sotaichou _in following orders. Because of this, they became very discipline in everything they do.

It was because of these features too that I afraid to disappoint everyone. After a year of being with them, I began to get comfortable and begin to show improvements.

After achieving _shikai_ before graduation, I wondered if the rest of my friends could achieve it within 5 years in service. Maybe I was expecting too much from them. As expected from our training, Shikamuri and Asuka achieved _shikai _immediately after joining their respective divisions. Since they already know my _zanpaktou_'s name and initial form, they told me of their _zanpaktou_s' names and showed me their _shikai_. As for Kori, Yuki and Ariga, they achieved it after serving for almost 5 years. I don't how they trained, but at least they achieved it.

Mentioning about _shikai_, I remembered a particular day where _Yuuhoshi _brought me to his world. It was during one of my trainings that I found myself in a different place yet oddly familiar. The place was barren of grass, trees or soil, and instead of sand, some sort of white stuff covered the ground. I thought it was snow, but when I tried to hold it, the white stuff quickly dissipates from my hand.

The sky was so blue, bluer than it could ever be. The sun was shining so brightly on my body, yet I don't feel any kind of heat. But it did blind me. As I cover my eyes from the light, I noticed that sun and the clouds were actually too close for comfort. Suddenly, I realised that I was actually standing on a cloud.

I sensed a presence behind me and I turned. A man, wearing a straw hat, a white sleeveless shirt and long loose white pants, was staring at me with smiling face. And I noticed that he was barefooted. I don't know what kind of clothing he wore, but it reflected the sunlight.

"Sorry about my clothing, but I think it is about time for you to see me in my true form since you already know my name," he said as he took off his hat.

I was puzzled when he said that and also amazed to see his eyes and his hair were white. "You're _Yuuhoshi_? That means that I am in your world?"

"Take a look around you. Is it hard to believe that you are in my world?"

"Why did you tell me your name so early?"

"Your training and your power. Every time you wield me, your power flows into me and that power shows the extend of your training. That was the first reason why."

"The first?"

"The second was the 'thing' inside you. It wanted you to know my name."

"You met it?" I asked, surprised. "What type of creature is it? Why does it want me to know your name so early?"

"You'll meet it, when the time comes. I found it funny that it wanted to see you becoming stronger. For a creature like that, it is hard to believe."

"Just tell me what it is," I said, anxiously.

He just smiled, "I brought you here not for you to question me, but to teach you two other commands to activate two different powers in me."

Having three commands was quite a surprise. Learning the two commands at the span of 10 years was a long time, but for its powers, it was worth it.

My relationship with Kori somehow slowed down because of our work and training. We just never had enough time lately. The only time that we had though, was when both of us took our leave from our work. Then came one day when she decided to put our relationship on hold. Technically, it was not a break-up, but to concentrate on our career first before actually taking a step further.

* * *

Year 21 to 55 

It was a terrible news shocker and also a demoraliser for all of us. The _Taichou _for the 12th Division had been court-martialled and had been sentenced to exile. Apparently his first crime was an untraceable _gigai _that he created. This type of _gigai_ has its usefulness, but if it fell into the wrong hands, _Seireitei_ would be in deep shit. His other crime was the creation some sort of orb. I don't know the purpose of this orb, but they say it was very dangerous.

Another hard beating for _Seireitei_ was the _Taichou_ of 2nd Division. She helped the disgraced _Taichou_ to escape from Soul Society to the real world and tagged along with him. _Just what is she thinking?_ Oddly enough, _Central 46_ had decided not to chase them, even though they were considered as criminals.

For a new _Taichou _for the 12th Division, he really looked like a walking freak show. And from what I heard about him, he scares me. _Of all people, why was he chosen to lead the division?_ That question plagued me for a long time. However, he did a good job at it. A little too good, I think.

As for the 2nd Division, the former _Taichou_'s protégé took over the reins and she was very like the _Sotaichou_. She looked very cute though, gave me the urge to hug her every time I see her.

Even now I still train with my friends. Together with the all training in the 1st Division and accomplishing all the assignments that was given to me, I was finally promoted to 15th Seat. My friends too managed to be among the top twenty in their respective divisions after following the same training schedule. Still, considering that I am in the 1st Division, I felt content being amongst the greatest people of _Seireitei_.

Because of this position, I had gained full access to the 1st Division library and also a portion of the national archive. Even though I was busy with work and training, I still managed to read some history books. As I read through the books, I came across a few articles about two particular groups of former _shinigami_s.

The first group learned the ways of the Hollow in order to become more powerful. Their numbers were estimated to be almost 200 and were glowing rapidly. Since it was a crime to become part of the enemy, all of them managed to escape from _Soul Society _and they somehow managed to disappear from our surveillance.

The other was quite vague though. They appear to be an average _shinigami_s who resigned suddenly without any reason. Apparently they banded together to form an organisation to act as an independent vanguard for Soul Society in the real world. They called themselves the _Fallen Crusade_. At that time I felt this group was an idiotic group as they can play the vanguard role in _Seireitei_.

I also read about unusual Hollows that can open their mask. From what I read, they learned our ways to become more powerful. They were not much different than the first group. However their progress was very slow, making most of them weaker than a standard _Taichou_. I should feel better about that, but knowing that they can be this powerful was rather disturbing.

* * *

Year 56 to 70 

Assignments can be varied from scouting to search-and-destroy. The length of an assignment could take a few hours, a few days, a few weeks or a few months. Most of it requires a _shinigami_ or a team. In my first 59 years of service, all my assignments had always been like that.

However, there was one particular assignment that requires the 1st Division to collaborate with the 11th Division. Being the 11th Division as they were, I don't really like them at all, but having Yuki working in this division, I just tolerated it.

Fortunately, for this assignment, I was partnered with Yuki. There was no other person that I would be willing to work with as a partner, except for Yuki, Asuka and Shikamuri. All through these years, these three and I were the only ones that improved a lot.

Being in the 11th Division member, Yuki became eager to fight, rude, very loud and one of the best martial-artist in her division. Sometimes I wished that she could just be a normal woman for once and act gracefully. I became very worried every time she was given an assignment. I did talk to her about transferring to another division, but knowing her from the start, she bluntly refused. Oddly, she had a sisterly bond with the child lieutenant of the division.

For Kori and Ariga, I trust them with my life, but they were not strong enough to actually protect themselves yet. After years of working on the field, I just develop the mentality of _How can you protect other people when you can't protect yourself?_

The length of this assignment was a month in the north of Osaka. The increased appearances of Hollows in this area became worrisome that we were sent there to eliminate the threat. However, I don't know why the 1st Division was collaborating with 11th Division when either division can actually do it alone.

It was 3 days before the end of our assignment that we actually met him. It first started when we located multiple _reiatsu _not far from our location. When we reach there, we found ourselves surrounded by at least 20 Hollows. We fought them and were about to take out the last batch of Hollow when we saw a figure cutting through the remaining Hollows.

The figure actually finished the job for us and stood before us. The stranger was looking at us intently as if to analyse us. He was quite muscular and quite handsome. However, the thing about him that caught my eye was that he can see us. A _zanpaktou_ and different clothing than our uniform quickly lead me to believe that this man could be a _Shinigami_ deserter.

"Who are you?" Yuki asked, as both of us raised our weapons.

"Who am I is immaterial. But I would like to challenge both of you to a fight."

"A fight? Just who are you to challenge us?"

"I told you it's immaterial. I attack you first, white-haired girl." he replied, as he got ready to attack.

Seeing his action made us quickly put a defensive stance. I wanted to support her, but as a member of the 11th Division, she insisted me to stay out of the way. He came at Yuki with an incredible speed. Yuki didn't even put a strong fight against him. For all the skills that she learned, she was unable to defend herself. Finally he stabbed her.

I was stunned when he stabbed Yuki. He quickly took his weapon out of her body and attacked me. While fighting him, I noticed that he was skilful with the blade. Based on his hard and swift attacks and his movements, I concluded that he had more fighting experience that me.

"Is this how good you are, _Shinigami_? Certainly _Seireitei_ had become more lax in training its own force," he said.

We fought again, but this time his attacks became swifter and harder. Each of my attacks was easily deflected, while I had a hard time to deflect his. His speed slowly became faster. I know for sure that he was a deserter, but having this kind of skills, he must have trained a lot.

"For someone who can actually deflect my attacks, you are much better than her. Your fighting skills tell me one thing. You are either 1st Division, trained a lot, a _Fukutaichou_ or on your way to achieve _Bankai_. However, your skills also showed that the latter two are a way beyond your qualifications."

"A _zanpaktou_, different clothing and knowing who we are. You're definitely are a deserter."

"Deserter? You got it all wrong. Choosing between exile and capital punishment, I chose exile."

"Why are you here?"

"To test the competency of the _shinigami_. Obviously she doesn't deserve her uniform. If _Seireitei_ is filled with the likes of her, then _Seireitei_ shouldn't exist anymore," he said, as he disappeared from my sight. He appeared standing over her with the weapon raised, ready to strike.

I had that same feeling again as that day. Right then, I was expecting that whatever thing inside me would control my body again. Yet it didn't. And I was glad for it. I managed to block his _zanpaktou_ just in time.

"Strike, _Yuuhoshi_," I called my second command in anger. In this second command, I transfer some of my _reiatsu_ to my weapon and _Yuuhoshi_ transform it to a single volt of lightning. Unlike the first command where _Yuuhoshi_ help to increase my fighting abilities, this command was an attacking command. The lightning volt went straight to him through his _zanpaktou_.

Like so many beings hit by electricity, he jerked back a few metres away. I can see it in his face that he didn't expect the shock of his life.

"So that's your _Shikai_, huh? Impressive."

"Don't you dare to lay a finger on her, you damn bastard. Have you degraded yourself since you left Soul Society?"

"Calling me names, huh? I just want to finish her off before I finish you. I don't like to do things half way."

"Fuck you asshole. Let's end this."

"The sooner the better."

We took our battle stand and charged. Finally, we stood in front of each other with our _zanpaktou_ in each other's body. Since I'm a lefthander, my zanpaktou had stabbed into his right abdomen. He was a right-hander, so his weapon was embedded from my left shoulder to across my chest. Both of our bloods surrounded us on the ground.

"Who would have thought that the likes of you could actually hurt me? I underestimated you, whoever you are, but don't think that my wound would weaken me, likes yours," he said, as he increased the pressure of his _zanpaktou_ into my body.

If he didn't increase his speed to become faster than me, I certainly would have killed him, instead of him striking me first. Being weakened by the initial blow of his weapon, the increased pressure weakens me more. I finally collapsed, but before I fainted I heard some other voice.

"It won't be like this if you used your mask," a female voice said. It was strange that I didn't sense her at all.

"He may be skilful, but he is too weak to see it. Besides, I made the mistake and I still live. Let's go or else we will be overwhelmed."

"We're going leave them here alive?"

"I came here to test them, not kill them."

Hearing that, I knew who they were. All became dark for the third time in my life. I don't know how long I had been unconscious, but I woke up in a very familiar disinfected smelling white room of the 4th Division hospital.

My weapon was on a stand without the scabbard in front of my bed. A nurse was scribbling something on a chart. Her pink uniform showed me the frame of her body and what aroused me were her chest and her bottom. Yet I control myself by thinking about my friends.

The nurse told me that my body was fully recovered and had been unconscious for more than 2 days. I wanted to ask about Yuki, but she immediately went to the door. She stopped however.

"Do you know a white haired woman?" she asked.

"Is she all right?" I responded quickly

"She just suffered a nonfatal wound. Nothing very serious."

"Thank God for that."

"Strange that whoever you fought with only gave her that wound while he gave you a fatal wound."

"A fatal wound?"

"You were dying when your team brought you in. You are fortunate that Unohana _Taichou_ was there at the time to save you."

"Give my thanks to her then."

"Sure," she replied. Before she closed the door, "By the way, when the white-haired woman woke up two days ago, she immediately came to this room and stayed by your side until this morning."

I smiled thinking about her. "Where is she now?"

"Probably resting in her room. I'll tell her that you're up," she said, and she left.

She left without giving me a chance to thank her. It was a few minutes later that _Fukutaichou_ Kotetsu came in to check on me. After she left, Yuki came in, held my hand and gently squeezed it. Right now, having her presence here was much better than saying any words

I stayed for another day for observation. By this time, Yuki had been discharged and gave her full report of the encounter to her _Taichou_. On my last night here, I was sleeping when there was light in my room. I woke up feeling irritated. I then saw a figure standing over my bed. I shouted in surprised and jerked away from my bed that I fell to the floor.

"I'm sorry about that, man. I never wanted to scare you," a familiar voice said, taking off his straw hat and smile.

I was in awe. Glancing at my weapon, I was totally surprised that my _zanpaktou_ had changed to _Shikai_ form and had a brighter glow.

"_Yuuhoshi_, how did you…?"

"Three things:- power, training and fighting experience."

"Really?"

"Those three were my first steps to materialize to your world. The amount of _reiatsu_ that you gave me quickened the pace."

"_Reiatsu_?"

"I don't how you get that amount of _reiatsu_, but you gave me 200 times more than my usual dose during the fight with that man. For your skill level, it is way too much. The remaining _reiatsu_ was enough for me to materialize."

"I don't remember giving you that much _reiatsu_."

"Anger doesn't really make people remember things."

"So, sooner or later I could achieve _Bankai_?"

"Only if you train hard and managed to subdue me, yeah."

After nearly 60 years, I never though that I could come this far. Achieving materialization of the _zanpaktou_ this early was still too early for me, but being among the few to achieve Bankai was an intriguing idea. After been discharged, I immediately went back to work and reported the encounter to my superiors.

It was a few days later that Yuki stated her concerned for me after reading my report. I understand her concern as she was the only one in _Seireitei_ who knew of what I can do. She was just afraid that I might leave _Soul Society_ and abandon everyone. At this time, I'm beginning to think if I could be a _Vizard_, but my feelings begged to differ.

10 years had past and my martial art skills had improved a lot. I was supposed to subdue my weapon, but it was like training at the same time. Slowly, but surely, I could do this. The only person that I told about my _zanpaktou_'s materialization was Mizuki Mifune, the current 8th Seat of the 1st Division at that time. I don't know how, but since I was in his training regiment, he noticed the drastic improvement in my martial-art skills. After much persuasion, including some aggressive tactics, I finally told him about it. It was a surprise when he told me about his _Bankai_ achievement. This became our secret and a promise to keep it quiet.

70 years of service and I'm still 15th Seat. Everyone else had been promoted to the top ten seats. Asuka became the 7th while Shikamuri became number 9. Both Kori and Ariga received the promotion of 10th Seat in their respective divisions. Yuki herself became the 8th in her division.

It's not that I wanted someone to relinquish or die in the line of duty, but the prospects of getting promoted in this division was a hard one. I heard that all of the top ten officers, except the first two of course, had held their same position for almost a thousand years. I wonder how they felt holding the same position for a long time.

* * *

Year 71 to 89 

Nothing much happen for the past 10 years. Nothing happen in Soul Society or in Seireitei. Nothing during my assignments. Somehow this worked for my training. With the help of Mifune-_senpai_ doing the slight changes in my work schedule, I certainly had more time in training.

The thing about more time was that, to achieve _Bankai_, one cannot be taught how to achieve it, unless of course one tends to copy everything the other person did forever. Still, under Mifune-senpai's guidance, my martial-arts became quite good that I became much better than my friends.

Even though nothing happen professionally, changes do happen in our personal lives. My sister and her husband finally became grandparents to their first grandson. Asuka and Shikamuri got married after so many years of being together. I was glad that they finally sorted it out.

Ariga, being the most hardworking, always found himself in the hospital after receiving injuries and wounds during trainings and assignments. I know that being in the hospital could very boring, so I got him three books from the real world. Apparently these three books from the _Icha-Icha_ series were so popular. I never actually read it, but Ariga liked it so much that he read the books three times.

Having Yuki in the hospital too for so many times worries me. Seeing her unconscious on the bed every time almost made me think that she died. I just don't want to lose her at all.

One day, I tried to rekindle my relationship with Kori after so many years, but she broke up with me for unknown reasons. Being together for a long time really broke my heart deep down. It took a few days to clear my thoughts and to know that our relationship was getting nowhere since she put it on hold. We became friends though, friends comfortable with each other. With her out of the way, I managed to concentrate on my efforts to subdue my weapon.

* * *

Year 90 to 110 

I finally achieved _Bankai_. I got overexcited about this. All the training for the past 30 years had paid off. Since it was a secret between me and Mifune-_senpai_, I tend to keep mine for long time. However I was grateful that my _zanpaktou_ indirectly gave me an intensive training. Combine together with the direct training from the division, subduing my weapon became easier. And I did it without everyone knowing it. I was quite proud at that. It was a disappointment when Mifune-_senpai_, won't guide me anymore after achieving _Bankai_.

One afternoon soon after, I was by the stream with Saga residence behind me, spacing out at the sky. Suddenly, I was in a different place. It was not the sky, but instead I was in an underground passage and at the end of it, was a large jail door. As I got nearer, a voice greeted me. This was the voice that spoke to me that day in _Rukongai_. I was speechless. A figure loomed at the door. He was very big and was wearing a cloak. I don't know what to expect, but he took off the clock and I saw him face to face. He looked very human and was quite handsome, except that he was about 10 feet tall, very muscular, and his eyes gave out a purplish glow.

"Who are you?"

"Not someone to give you Hollow powers, that's for sure," he chuckled. "But seriously, you should know by now that I'm different."

"Different in what way? You could be a Hollow for all I know."

"You read about the _Vizard_s, didn't you? All of them. ALL of them have blackened pupils to replace the white. I'm sure that your friends told you what colour your eyes were that day."

I remembered my friends told me that it was reddish purple. "How did you able to control my body?"

"Your body was like staying in prison, unable to do anything except watching the television. Every time your feelings were in turmoil, your body gave me a certain freedom of control. It was like giving me a game station with a game in it and controls to play it. But it is also a choice of whether or not I want to play it."

"You mean like the time when I achieved my _Shikai_ and the battle with the _Vizard_, you decided not to control my body?"

"Yeah. The first time was for fun. It's been a long time since I had seen some action. I didn't do it later because I wanted to see you die. The long, suffering death. There is nothing more enjoyable than seeing a person die like that, but I do enjoy killing. Not only that, if you die, I won't die with you. Instead I would be free and return to where I belong."

"Damn you, asshole."

"You are literally talking to a demon from Hell, you know. However, throughout the years though, I somehow got the feeling that I had gotten soft."

"Soft?"

He smiled at me, thus a story began.

Hell was a peaceful place actually. It was like _Soul Society_ in a way, but its power was close to the Royal family of _Soul Society_. With its own stable government in place, their role almost became like _Seireitei_. However, after so many years, it became so decadent that it led to a civil war between two factions. So terrible was its civil war that it became a stalemate and Soul Society had to intervene.

One faction, known as the Loyalist, gladly accepted the help. The other, the Resolvers, was against it. However, the _Shinigami_s were never much of a help as the demons were too powerful. Out of 500 _Shinigami_s, only 10 survived.

Unlike us where _Shinigami_'s powers were about the same level as Hollow's powers, the powers of a demon from Hell were very powerful beyond the most powerful _Taichou_. Having to know that certainly made my bones shiver.

Then came one point where the tables were turned permanently. 9 _Shinigami_s using demon powers came and attack the Resolvers. It was unknown how this came to be at first. A fuse between demon powers and _Shinigami_ powers seemed to have increased the chances for the Loyalist. It took a matter of days actually for the Resolvers to lose their forces tremendously and be captured forcefully.

The leader and his lieutenants of the Resolvers were imprisoned separately in fear that they might still collaborate. Somehow the Resolvers started a rebellion and it was well organised. The rebellion was crushed easily though and the Loyalist found that they were led telepathically by no other than the leader and his lieutenants.

The best way that the Loyalist came up with to solve this problem was the same way that they did to the _Shinigami_. The way was to seal a demon into a soul that had the most _reiatsu_. However, since this was about imprisoning, a stronger sealing technique was required and the living prison must be someone that was not related to _Seireitei_.

There was where I came in. I don't know when they imprisoned one inside me, but this sealing technique was somehow different. It made the soul to act as a prison, yet it gave me the access of using the demon's power.

At this point I also learned something interesting. All demons were born equally powerful; however they can only learn skills that suited to their demonic characteristics. For a _Shinigami_, learning just one demonic skill could take all their _reiatsu_. There was no other way but to take a drastic measure. A _Shinigami_ was to be seal into a demon, but the _Shinigami_ died during the process. A demon was then used and it worked perfectly. The results came out with the remaining _Shinigami_s able to use the demon's full power and their own.

There were 20 lieutenants, so 20 people with strong _reiatsu_ were used, including me. The thing about the sealing technique was that it will not weaken over the years and as long as the soul was not harm, the demon will always be inside that soul. To make sure the selected souls will not be harmed, the Loyalist had sent agents to Soul Society and the real world to monitor them. All these happened without the knowledge of _Seireitei_. Apparently, this was why the Shinigami managed to get to me unhindered.

From this point on, a new government was formed in Hell with the more powerful _Shinigami_ as the core of the military. Instead of calling themselves Death Gods, they changed their name to Death Lords since their affiliation had changed to Hell.

Sesshouhane, as he named himself, was the third in command of the Resolvers. For more than 3000 years he had been imprisoned in so many bodies that he had forgotten how many. He remembered the process of being extracted from a soul and resealed in another one. In those years, he identified only two types people that he was imprisoned: the good and the evil. He had control over them, given them power and it was fun to watch, but after a long time, a mind could 'break'. He just got tired knowing that he couldn't escape at all.

It had been 10 months since conversing with the demon. Having to do special _Bankai_ training alone was getting nowhere. I went actually to the big man himself requesting for the training. I never thought that he actually agreed to do it. With him giving me an appropriate training and a very tight schedule, I was confident that I could do this.

It took me a while, but I finally completed the special training. It was one of my proudest moments in my life, but without everyone knowing it, except for two people, I was prouder still. When I finished the training, I was given a choice of pursuing a career as a _Taichou_ or leave it as it was. I chose the latter obviously.

My own family and friends didn't know the special training, let alone _Bankai_. Yet, my friends had noticed that my martial art skills and _kidou_ had increased a lot after so many years.

Asuka and Shikamuri were busy with their work and being married and having a child to support, they don't seem to have the time to spend with me.

Kori was badly wounded during her last assignment, trying to save two humans. When I heard about her, I quickly went to the hospital. Yuki was already there, crying. Kori was holding out her hand to me and I quickly grabbed hold of it. She apologised for the break up, but it was for the better she said. Her eyes showed me that she knew how deep Yuki's feeling for me and how I felt for Yuki. Seeing her die in front of me was the second event that I remembered about her.

My relationship with Yuki drifted apart after this. We barely even talk anymore. Kori's death took both of us some time to comprehend, but made me finally realised that I was actually in love with Yuki. My feelings for Kori all this while was more of a strong brotherly love.

* * *

Year 111-120 

Another tragedy came when I received news that Mifune-_senpai_ had died fighting a Hollow. It was a terrible shock that a Hollow can actually kill a _Shinigami_ of his calibre. His loss wasn't felt at all in the division, except those who knew him well. Search and destroy his killer became our personal vendetta, even though it was not the division's top priority.

Before we could set out, it was a rule in the 1st Division that every empty seat must be filled to keep the morale up. A general test was set forth and was eligible to officers below 8th Seat. Among all of them, I turned out to be the best in using my fighting skills and had better leadership qualities than the rest.

I was immediately given the 8th Seat and all of its responsibilities. Fortunately, it was all the same, just more work. The platoon that attached to the position seemed to get along well with me since I spend much my time training with them. The only animosity that I received was from the 9th Seat. From what I had analysed about her, she wanted this position more than anyone else.

There was no information at all about the Hollow that killed Mifune-_senpai_. Two survivors from the squad that he brought along described this Hollow as a large, but thinly build, produced a lot more _reiatsu_ than a standard Hollow and its attacks were based on speed. The only weapons the Hollow had were the six bone-like claws that came out from his hands.

Both of them said Mifune-_senpai_ put up a valiant fight, but the Hollow was just too fast for him. He died, stabbed in the heart right after he cried out _Bankai_. He never had the chance to use _Bankai_ at all. However, I am doubtful that he could ever beat the Hollow in his _zanpaktou_'s second release as he used _kidou_-based attacks. _Kidou_-based _zanpaktou_s of course have a certain advantage in battle, but most of it was useful against close combat. As long as I can remember, _kidou_ was useless against speed. It takes a speed user to defeat another speed user, along with some fighting experience.

It took us two years and a lot of trouble just to find this Hollow, but we finally found it. The Hollow was true to the description, but its _reiatsu_ was much more powerful, about the same as the ones during my academy period. I ordered my platoon to stay out of the way during our fight and they all agreed.

Fighting against another speed user with the same level of fighting experience was satisfying. We found ourselves unable to hurt each other with our current skills.

"You're the first speed user that I encounter."

"Thank you. With the skills and experience like ours, it is quite satisfying to fight."

"Yeah. Too bad we're enemies. Fortunately, you're one of the best sources of food I've found."

As always, these Hollows were always despicable. Even though it was satisfying, I was getting nowhere near of killing it. I had no choice but to use my third command.

I stood at one place, stationary. Placing my _zanpaktou_ above me, I waited for him to attack. The Hollow was confused at first, but it immediately got it and charged at me.

"Blind them all, _Yuuhoshi_," I shouted. In this third command, I transferred some of my _reiatsu_ and the blade of my weapon suddenly glowed as bright as the sun for at least a second. I wanted to use this command as one of my secret trump cards, but between my _Bankai_ and the command, I decided to risk the command.

As expected, the Hollow reacted to the sudden bright light. Even though it reacted a bit, it gave enough time for me to slash it up. The Hollow fell to the ground and never got up. As it disappear, I looked at my platoon and saw them looking at me in relief. Some were actually crying. Thus ends our revenge, even though it was not professional at all.

Nothing much happened after that. One day, a female _Shinigami_ from my platoon came to me with a request to teach her how to fight. The request was initially confusing as the platoon had a strict training programme.

Her reason was to become stronger and build up her confidence as she was the weakest in the platoon. Her records showed her skills and abilities were the weakest and her performance in all her assignments was mediocre. Knowing that, nobody actually wants her to be in their team. Sometimes when I looked at her records, I felt that she was not suitable at all to be in the 1st Division, but she was great in the academy. It seemed that she still can't take the pressure of becoming the 1st Division member after 10 years of joining. She reminded me about myself. The pressure sometimes takes the toll on me, but being discipline, I managed to keep it away from my sanity.

As the result of her training, she somehow knew that I already achieve the highest form of my _zanpaktou_. She became the third person after Mifune-_senpai_ and the big guy.

It had been 5 years now since I held the rank. It during this time that the 9th Seat told me she was actually in love with Mifune-_senpai_ and she wanted to keep the memory by taking over the position. She finally gave up trying to prove that she was better and more deserving than me.

My sister and I had a talk about Yuki on one weekend at the Saga residence. It was obvious for her to notice Yuki's feelings for me. So I told her the truth about my own feelings. I wanted to tell Yuki so badly, but I was just too afraid that she might reject me. And it was hard to believe that Yuki was still in love with me after all these years.

That very night, as usual I was staring at the stars at the roof top when Yuki came and sat beside me. At that time I told how I felt for her all this while. She responded by hugging me tightly. That very night, we slept together, but with our clothes on.

A few months later, I was getting to my room after finishing a two-week assignment. What I saw on my desk was unexpected. There was a letter and a small box. I opened the letter and read it. The content almost gave me a heart attack. I quickly ran to her quarters, but it was empty.

I asked my sister, my friends and everyone that knew her. All I got was the same answer: she resigned from her job and disappeared two days before I came back. I returned to my room and the box was still unopened. Inside was the scarf that she made for me. She kept it for more than 120 years and I received it now. For the first time in so many years, I cried.

I was heartbroken for a long time. I really love her, but now that she gone too, I almost lost my will to continue doing my job. My sister and my friends were the ones that helped me to overcome my depression. Even today I never knew why she left and where she had gone.

From this point, I began to concentrate on my work more often.


	8. 7: Leaving

Author's note: Read chapter 1. Thank you for reading, but I'm begging again to all of you to read and review this story. It means alot to me.

Bleach

Chapter 7: Leaving

Aside from me, Ariga was the only one who hadn't married for a long time even though he had a standing relationship with a woman. Finally, he got married. This somehow leaves me the only one who was still a bachelor.

I was given an assignment to the real world just a few days after a _Shinigami_, bearing a noble family's name, disappeared in the real world. This news somehow caused a stir in the ranks in which I had to give a stern warning.

It was during this assignment that I met him again. The Vizard. This time, he appeared with his female friend.

"What do you want now, Vizard? Another fight?" I asked, as I took out my weapon.

"You knew who I am, huh? This time I wanted to talk to you."

"Talk? What do we have to talk about?"

"The increased activities of Hollows and Arrancars in the real world."

"Why? Are they disturbing your criminal activities?" I asked sarcastically.

"Not really, but seeing them a lot in the real world disturbs me. Aren't you disturbed seeing a lot of them here?"

Well, I was disturbed by the increased activities of Hollows and Arrancars for the past year. Reading all those reports made by the _Shinigami_s on the field and by the 12th Division, I wondered what was going on in their realm. I felt strange knowing the higher ups were doing nothing about this.

"I have been in the real world for hundreds of years and I never seen a lot of Hollow appearances within the past year. Something big is going on."

"Something big, huh? What do you want us do to actually?"

"I don't know. It's your problem. I just came to state my concern."

"Concern? Now that is unusual coming from someone who is concern in his own power than the whole world."

"You think that I'm selfish, don't you?"

"Every one in Seireitei does. For what you did to yourselves, you want to blame _Seireitei_ for punishing all of you. That sounds very selfish indeed."

"Under the name of protection, one must have the power."

"True, but do you control the power or the power controls you? From where I see it, power controls your mind."

He was silent for a while. "It is true that some of us turned greedy for power, but some did it for sake of Soul Society. While most hated _Seireitei_ and _Huenco Mundo_, some are still loyal who wishes to continue serving _Seireitei_. Like me and my girlfriend here."

I can see she was blushing. "Loyal? Now I laugh at that idea."

"Just tell the old man Yamamoto that Jizuki Seritaya and his supporters are pledging their lives to _Seireitei_ whether he like it or not. He will know who I am," he said before leaving.

I knew that the big guy would throw a fit if he hears the message. Sometimes I wondered why I get this kind of job that can make my life miserable. Having them as allies might be a good thing, but I cannot push aside the possibility that they were the ones who made this situation.

One of my concerns right now was the Arrancars. Their appearances seemed to be more frequent this past year than any of the standard Hollows. Luckily, all of them were easily dispatched, despite being more powerful than any Hollow. Fighting against all those Hollows and Arrancars, I was given a chance to see the power of _Negashion_. I always read it in the history books and I was amazed looking at it. I never really believe in what I read, but it was true when I was unable to penetrate _Negashion_.

It was nice to come back home after the two week assignment. After giving my report to my superiors, I immediately prepared my resignation letter secretly as I know relaying the message to the big guy could cause me my job. Still, I never had the chance though to tell the big guy about the message. Every time I tried, he was somehow busy with work. It was one month after I came back that I finally managed to get to some time to meet him in his office.

I told him about my meeting with the _Vizard_ and that some of them were still loyal to _Seireitei_. I told him about the message and he was surprised to hear the name. I mentioned about the possibility of cooperating with them to solve Hollow problem. As expected from him, he got very angry at the idea of allying ourselves with criminals. We got into an argument with me persisting on the idea. What I got from him a two week suspension for challenging his authority about the _Vizard_s.

Instead of receiving the punishment, I gave him my resignation letter. He was annoyed by the letter, but he didn't open it. He then ordered me to go away and I obeyed.

I walked slowly to my room, enjoying the morning sun. I felt sad leaving this place, but what I did was well worth it. What bothered my mind was the big guy's answer for the Hollow problem. It wasn't much of a solution, but he said that _Seireitei_ will deal with it in time. When, I wonder, will they take some action.

I packed my things and just left _Seireitei_, much to the surprised of the rest of the 1st Division. I just hand in my resignation letter almost two hours ago and a notice of my resignation had been spread throughout _Seireitei_. The notice didn't say the reason I resigned though. It was a good thing actually, to save me from _Central 46_ and losing my face.

My reason of leaving was the conflict of interest in using any kind of help to protect Soul Society. So when everyone asked me on why I resigned, I just reply "Conflict of interest. And that was all there is." Nobody really question me after that.

I had spent two weeks at the Saga residence doing nothing, but helping my sister doing chores and accompanying my nieces and nephews and their children. I was called back to meet with the big guy again and I was escorted by no other than the former 9th Seat and my student.

Well, the former 9th Seat finally got what she wants, but through her face I can see she was having a hard time filling in my shoes. It seems that the platoon attached to 8th Seat was still loyal to me. They somehow preferred me to be their leader as long as I'm still alive. I wondered what would happen to me if Mifune-_senpai_ didn't die. Would I have gone through like her right now?

When I reached his office, he was standing at the balcony. Even though I'm no longer working for _Seireitei_, I still knelt before him out of respect.

"You called for me, Yamamoto-_Sotaichou_."

"Yes, I did. Being who we are, I go straight to the point," he said, sitting down. "I want you to go to the real world and act as an intelligence officer for us."

"Sir?"

"I'm assigning you, Takahashi, to investigate any kind of unusual phenomenon or activities that might threaten Soul Society, directly or indirectly. Whatever you encounter, you will report it directly to me."

"So that means you want me to investigate the reason the Hollows and the Arrancars appear so frequent?"

"The increased activities are disconcerting, but not a top priority. The main concern is the oddities of our enemy's abilities. I have been getting reports of unusual Hollows and Arrancars appearing throughout the world."

When he said that, I remembered the incident in the 13th Division. Something like that shouldn't have happen, yet it was a very strange Hollow.

"Why do you want me to do this?"

He looked at me hard. "With your skills, you're too valuable resource to let go. So instead of wasting your skills in doing nothing, I might as well use you even if you are no longer a member of _Seireitei_."

"Did the _Central 46_ been informed about using me?"

"No, they are not. To everyone, you had been banished to the real world. Only the three of us know what your role in the real world is," he said as the _Fukutaichou _Chojiro came into the room.

"How long do I need to do this assignment?"

"Indefinitely. You will head out in two weeks," replied _Fukutaichou _Chojiro

"That means the first day of the sixth month, huh? Where am I assigned?"

"Okinawa. The place is now one of the common spots of the increased Hollow and Arrancar activities."

I nodded, "Is that all, sir?"

"One more thing. Having to hear about the _Vizard_s from you, I beginning to have doubts that you're will not be making any contact with them. As insurance, I had the Shinigami Research Institute to get ready a tracker. So, if you are to make any contact with them, I'll send our special forces to hunt you down," said the big guy.

"If you don't trust me that much, then why are you giving me this assignment?"

"I believe you will do anything to save Soul Society, even if it means allying with those criminals. I'm just using your loyalty, though misguided. You have your orders, now get out."

Well, at least he's good at utilizing resources. However, I never though of him making this type of idea without the acknowledgement of the _Central 46_. I had left my job as a _Shinigami_, now I have to leave Soul Society for this secret assignment.

I spend a week at the 70th District of East Alley. It had been three years since I sent my last letter to Hiyato. That was the time when Yuki left and I was too depressed to do anything.

So many things had changed in the district. When I left this place, the conditions were terrible. The district was littered with garbage and so many buildings were deserted. Now I see the place becoming cleaner and bustling with people. It was good to see that the Blue Sunflower Gang was doing a good job making the place safer. This district was probably the best and the cleanest district among all the slumps of Soul Society.

One night, I was lying on the roof of Blue Sunflower headquarters as usual in the past. Hiyato came up as he always did to talk to me.

"After all these years, you still do this?"

"Old habits die hard, Hiyato."

He chuckled, "Yeah. So what really happened to Yuki and to you?"

"Didn't anybody tell you about it?"

"I preferred the story to come from you."

"Yuki left us three years ago for no reason at all. My family, our friends and her division gave me the same answer. She suddenly left two days before I got back from my assignment. My sister said that she was crying uncontrollably. Her last message to me was to take care of myself. Until this day, I still don't know why she left us or where she went. I trained very hard so that I could give some protection my friends, yet I was unable to do anything to stop anybody that I cared about from dying or leaving."

"You still have us, Arisuke. Appreciate that."

"You know, she finally gave me that scarf after all these years."

"She kept it all this while and finally gave you before she left? I wonder why she didn't earlier. Women, one of the greatest mysteries of the universe, huh?"

"You got that right," I said slowly.

There was a long quietness between us. "Is it really conflict of interest that made you resigned?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Just what did you do to get kicked out of Soul Society?"

"I would like to keep that a secret."

"Secret? Don't you trust anybody to tell it?"

"I don't want anybody to distrust me and to see me with that odd look again."

"Don't you want to appeal for a lesser sentencing?"

"Every member of the 1st Division is trained to follow orders. From there, discipline, sufficient, competence and obedience are expected from us. And I tend to follow that tradition."

"Tradition? I called that stupidity since you are no longer working for _Seireitei_."

"Say what you want, but I'm still doing it."

He shook his head, "Maybe that's why your boss trust you in following orders. He knows that you're not going to run. When are you leaving?"

"Next month. I'll be staying here until this weekend, and then I will be staying with my sister. I don't like being late in anything."

"You know, you reminded me of Masuda."

"Really? In what way?"

"Well, both of you have _reiatsu_, both of you tend to leave us behind and both of you refused to listen to me."

I chuckled, "I wonder where he is and what is he doing right now."

Masuda. He had left at the end of the 4th year at the academy. He said he wanted to get some experiences and explored Soul Society. I actually received a letter from Hiyato about him arriving at the district last year. Hiyato wanted him to stay, but it seemed that he hadn't finished seeking the experience.

"Good luck then and be safe," he said in a very sad voice and left.

I looked at him leave and turned back to look at the stars again. "I'm sorry, Hiyato, I really am sorry," I said quietly.

My sister was no different in feeling sad at my going. Reuniting with my sister was one of the best moments of my life. I felt terrible leaving her, but at the same time, there were too many sad memories for me in Soul Society. In a way, it was good thing to leave behind those memories.

I came exactly at the appointed time at an unopened _Senkaimon_. The _Sotaichou_ and his _Fukutaichou_ were already there with five men from the _Kidou_ Corp.

"Are you ready, Takahashi?" asked the big guy.

"I am," I replied. Then _Fukutaichou_ Chojiro indicated to the five men to activate the _Senkaimon_.

"Anything you wish to say or want before you go?" asked the big guy.

Well, I already said my goodbyes to my family, my friends and my former 1st Division team-mates. The tracker had already been implanted into my body. Suddenly, something came up.

"I got only one thing. I want a direct line to my family and friends while serving in the real world."

"I can only allow you to communicate with your sister, no other."

"Fair enough. I expect to get it as soon as I give my first report."

He nodded, making way to show me that the _Senkaimon_ had already opened. As I stood before the gate, I noticed a Hell Butterfly flying around me. Another proof I'm still working for _Seireitei_, even if it was unofficial.

Looking back at Soul Society, I'm going to miss this place. Just too many memories had embedded into my heart. I don't know when I'm going to come back. Indefinitely sounded like a long time. I thought leaving my job was bad enough, but now I have to leave Soul Society.

It took me 15 minutes to pass over. I was standing on a lamppost in a university campus. It was nice to see the evolution of things, especially the clothing. After reading the _Icha-Icha_ series, it was interesting to see women wearing the latest trend of clothing.

Well, after a while, I headed to what supposed to be my living quarters rented for me in the real world.


	9. 8: Joining

Bleach

Bleach

Chapter 8: Joining

When I got to my quarters, I found a letter on a table. The letter gave me further instructions in restricting my investigation to the particular town and also to restrain myself from attacking any Hollows or Arrancars in the presence of a resident _Shinigami_. However, I was allowed to attack if the resident _Shinigami_ was too far away to respond or physically unfit to attack. And here I thought that I can at least travel.

It was in the middle of month that I heard from the 12th Division about a particular _Shinigami_ that disappeared in the real world. She had been detected somewhere in the western side of Tokyo. I wondered what kind of punishment she might receive if she were to be caught. At most, she will lose her job and a 10-year imprisonment. Anymore wrongdoings could increase her sentence or worse.

Since I have no working experience in the real world, I landed on a job in a supermarket that uses my brawn instead of my brain. My salary was not much actually, but it was just enough to pay my monthly rent and my monthly intake of food.

How I joined the kendo dojo was not my intention at all. It happened during the middle of the month. I was walking home from my 12 hour shift from the supermarket. It was tiring, but seeing all the customers was enjoyable. I never thought I could see all kinds of people up close.

As I walked pass a park, I saw a group of people standing in the middle of the park. Five men were surrounding a woman. All five of the men were holding sticks of their own while the woman was wearing some sort of uniform and holding a _shinai_. It looked like she was defending herself from these five men.

Throughout my entire career, I sometimes wondered if I should save human lives from humans themselves. Right now, I'm wanted to save her as I am no longer a _Shinigami_ officially, but considering the situation, she seemed to be able to take care of herself. As of right now, the five men were starting to get nearer to her.

Still, I might as well even the odds for her. I managed in time to knock out one of the men and gotten his stick. The other four guys were surprised. Two guys quickly attacked me and I beat them up just enough for them to beg me to let them go.

She herself had done the same thing on the other two. As the four left with their unconscious friend, we just looked at each other hard.

I dropped the stick and left. I never asked the question as I know tough women like her could always take care of themselves. She reminded me of Yuki somehow.

"Wait!" she called out to me. "Who are you? And where did you learn kendo?" she asked as she ran towards me.

"Don't you want do go home after what had happen just now?"

"Not until you answer my questions," she replied, blocking my way.

She's one tough lady to learn martial arts and right now, she became an irritant. I suddenly heard a woman's voice yelled out a name behind me. Two women came running towards us calling out a name. I noticed that both of them were wearing the same uniform.

"Your friends?" I asked as I looked back at the woman.

She looked irritated and she lax a little. That was all I needed get away from answering any of her questions. I quickly grabbed her wrist and twisted it in a way that made her fall to her knees. I let go of her and ran. I still can hear her calling out to me.

Izumi. That was her name. I had hoped that she will not wait for me at the park. It was the next day that I met her at the supermarket. It was surprised that she came here as I never seen her coming here before.

She came in with a muscular man and when she saw me, she quickly pointed the man to me. My co-workers gave me a questioning look, but returned to work when the supermarket manager came.

"Welcome to the supermarket. I'm the manager for this supermarket. How may I help you?"

"Well, firstly, you can help by giving one of your workers permission to relax for a few minutes."

When I heard that, I began to distance myself. However, she quickly grabbed my arm with both her hands.

"You are not going anywhere this time," she said, grimly. Somehow her voice tells me she had some interest in me.

The man continued to talk with my manager for another few minutes. In that time, I apologised to her for making her fall. However, she thanked me for helping her. The manager allowed me to talk to them, but I must do my work.

"Just who are you guys anyway? And how did you know where I work?"

"My name is Ryuusuke Kiba and this is my sister, Izumi Kiba. We're from the One Soul, One Kendo Dojo. My sister knew where you work through your uniform. And you are mister….?"

I shook my head, remembered that I met her after work, and sighed, "My name is Arisuke Takahashi."

"Well, Takahashi-san, my sister told me about yesterday's incident. I, like her, are curious as to where you learned your kendo?"

"My father was the one who learned kendo from a dojo and I learned from him," I said, knowing that it was the truth, albeit it happened a long time ago.

"What dojo did your father learned?"

"I don't know and I don't care at all. I'm just glad that I learned it."

"Where's your father?"

"Died of natural causes. Where is this going anyway? Is this about me or my family?"

"I'm sorry, I just got carried away. Now for the real purpose. We would like to invite you to join our dojo."

"Join? As what?"

"As a member of our dojo."

"Every day, except for Wednesdays, I work for 12 hours. I would be very tired after work and I would want to entertain myself on Wednesdays. Besides, I only learned half way through."

"Well, we can personally teach where you left off for you to earn ranking. You don't really need to come to the dojo, we can come to you."

"I don't have enough money to pay you."

"Money actually is not a problem to accept a young talented student like you. I'm actually proud to have student like you."

When I heard that, something came out in my mind. "Are you trying to flatter me or you cannot find any potential student aside from me?"

They were speechless and looked confused. "I'll think about it," I said.

Joining a martial art dojo was never in my mind as I was too busy working in the supermarket during the day and as an unofficial _Shinigami_ during the night. Activities at the dojo would certainly get in the way with my role as a secret intelligence officer.

It was no harm though if I could learn new techniques. So I joined them, relearning the basics at the same park every Wednesday morning. We never encounter the five guys anymore, which I'm glad for it. I was a bit surprised though that the siblings actually lived just three blocks away from my rented quarters. It seems we were fated to meet and to live nearby.

I don't why Izumi began to show her liking for me. She started to come to the supermarket after my working hours and we would walk together. Apparently, she was a high school student and she had to pass the supermarket to reach home. I don't really believe what she said, but my co-workers claimed this to be true. Just that she never went in to the supermarket and always passed by two hours before I finished my work.

Her fondness for me became all too obvious when she started to invite me to her home for dinner every Wednesday. I felt disturbed by her fondness, but her brother assured me that her fondness was just temporarily.

A few days later, I received a report from the 12th Division about a boy receiving _Shinigami_ powers from the missing female _Shinigami_. _Is this even possible? If it is, isn't this illegal?_ I thought. Somehow, with these powers, he managed drive a Gillian-class _Menos Grande_ back to _Huenco Mundo_.

I find it hard to believe that this boy was able to do this by just using her powers alone. Something or someone must be helping him. This incident would certainly attract the attention of _Seireitei_. I wonder what kind of action they would take.

The first three months living here was nice, but it was tiring. My rank in the dojo went up further. I didn't know it so easy to get promoted. It was tiring doing all of this even though there was nothing much to investigate.

A lot of Hollows and Arrancars do appear quite often, but there were nothing unusual about them at all. All the Arrancars that I fought with were the ones that were not fully developed into human forms. However lately on the second month I'm here, their appearances had decreased sharply. It was another strange occurrence as strange as their increased appearances.

For the entire third month I'm here, I tried to call the big guy, but he never seemed to pick it up the phone. It was odd for him not to pick it up. It was on the end of the month that he finally picked it up. It was a total shock, the worst so far I think when I heard about Aizen's treachery and his new alignment to _Hueco Mundo_.

It was a moment of horror when I heard about the experiments that he did with the Hollows. That would explain the loss of the 13th Division _Fukutaichou_. His manipulation of people and massacre of the _Central 46_ made me wonder how deep was his treachery and how long did he plan it. Well, that also explained why the Hollows and the Arrancars appeared a lot for a year and suddenly decreased sharply.

What really amazed me was that the same boy managed to get some help and infiltrated Soul Society. That boy never ceased to amaze me. Now I wonder how he regained the _Shinigami_ powers when the 6th Division _Taichou_ had already severed his ability to produce _reiatsu_.

It was quite impossible for a person whose link had already been severed to regain such power even if he had help. Unless of course he had his own powers. No, I don't even dare to think about it.

The process of choosing new members for _Central 46_ could take a long time, for at least a year I think. So in the meantime, as expected, the big guy took over the _Central 46_ role. With the increased in authority, he had made the boy a representative. It was unexpected, but so was mine.

Now I know what the orb's real purpose was. The real question now was, mixing both _Shinigami_ and Hollow powers, was it comparable to demon powers? I certainly hope not. This reminded me of the Vizards and the Arrancars. The Vizards somehow, I can feel, that they were more powerful than a standard Taichou. The Arrancars so far were still weak compared to the top 10 seated officers. However, a very powerful former _Taichou_ and the orb was a very dangerous combination. It was just a matter of time before the Arrancars would become more powerful.

I wonder how the former _Taichou_ of the 12th Division feels when one of his creations was being used for evil purposes. That was downside, wasn't it? Scientific research does have its advantages, but dwell too deep on a particular subject could actually cause a lot of trouble.

When I heard the reports about a group of Arrancars coming to the real world, especially the boy's town, I was quite worried because as far as I know each Arrancar always act alone. I never actually heard Arrancars group together as they tend to compete with each other with their new found powers.

What disturbs me about these Arrancars was that they became very powerful. More powerful than any previous Arrancars. Even more powerful than our own experience _Shinigami_. Still, with Aizen guiding them, the revelation was not really a surprise at all.

Hearing this news, I was quite worried if I really can handle this kind of Arrancars. Having this assignment for four months now made me think back if I really should have taken it. Well, there's no point worrying about it anymore, all that was in the past.

The fifth month of staying here was the eventful month for me. I became one of the highest ranking students of the dojo. With this new role, I was expected to help around the dojo, especially in training the newer students.

Having my day job at the supermarket, the new responsibilities in the dojo and as an intelligence officer for the big guy, it was pretty tiring. Unlike _Seireitei_ where we were given a few days off before our next assignment, I came to a point of exhaustion and even considered quitting my day job.

Fortunately, I managed to change my working hours from six days to five days a week I became less tired because of this, but I'll lose out of getting a promotion at the supermarket. Lately, I started to pick Izumi from her school at her request. I disliked doing this, but looking at her smile made what I do worth the time.

One Friday evening, I was as usual taking my time checking my phone for anything unusual before I picked up Izumi at her school. The phone suddenly detected a powerful _reiatsu_ signature about ten metres away from her school. It was an Arrancar, but more powerful than any Arrancar that my phone had detected before.

I quickly ran. As I was nearing the school, I felt a strong presence. Suddenly I noticed that the people surrounding the school were lying on the ground, even the school students. At the front gate of the school, I saw a figure. A thin, tall figure was wearing a white version of what looked like a _shihakusho_ uniform. Another thing, this Arrancar was bald and had breast for a thinly figure.

"Hello there, _Shinigami_. I've been looking for you for a long time," the Arrancar said. Well, the voice confirmed that this Arrancar was a female. What was left of her mask was a plate on her forehead that also covered her entire nose. I never had the fear of fighting against any Hollows or Arrancars, but this time was the exception.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

"Arrancar 38, Domany Ural and I want revenge on you."

"Revenge on me? For what? You barely know me."

"True, but I can recognise you from the survivors that had fought with you. I'm here because you killed my brother."

"Brother? Which one?"

She began to get irritated, "Do you remember killing a spider-like Hollow?"

I don't really remember killing any kind of Hollow with that kind of features throughout my career, except for my academy days. A realization came to me.

She smiled, "That's my brother. Do you know how long I tried to find you? And how much trouble I went through? Thanks to Aizen-sama, I now have the proper power to kill you."

I clenched my fist when I heard that name. "If you want revenge, let us fight in a place where we can have no distractions."

Amazingly she agreed. We went south of Okinawa to an open field. I'm right now in my _Shinigami_ gear. I had ordered the artificial soul to bring Izumi home and contact the two resident _Shinigami_s to come here. However, I'm sure they had already noticed this.

I told her my name, but she simply charged at me using only her fist. It was strange at first to use her hands instead of her _zanpaktou_, but I remembered that they had a very thick skin to act as body armour.

Her speed as an Arrancar created unnaturally by Aizen had become faster. She somehow managed to be on par with my speed that I had no chance to take up my weapon. I barely managed to avoid all her attacks. The more I avoid, the angrier she became. I took this opportunity by focusing my _reiatsu_ at my fist and punched her face. Well, I underestimated their hard skin. I wondered if she felt the pain of the punch. One thing for sure, I felt pain in my hand.

I charged at her with _Yuuhoshi_ ready to give the death blow. However at the last minute, she used her left hand to grab _Yuuhoshi_ by the blade. On her face, I can see blood coming out of her mouth. She then took out her _zanpaktou_.

I quickly call out my second command. With all those training I received throughout my career, my second command had become 100 times more powerful than when I first use it. Luckily I can determine how much power I want to use. By the looks of it, I'm sure she never expected it to be more powerful. She finally let go and jumped about 20 metres away.

I was surprised though, that she survived. Hollows and weaker Arrancars usually die from that command. I find it disturbing. She barely said anything at all during the fight, but I'm pretty sure that she that was thinking of a way to defeat me without releasing her form.

Well, I better not waste any more time; this fight could cost my life. She charged at me again. Her skills with the weapon were much better. Her speed was still the same though. She was good in using her weapon that both of us were unable to hurt each other. This reminded me so much about the revenge that I took a long time ago.

"Damn it. Why can't you just die?" she said, getting angrier by the minute.

If Aizen managed to create Arrancars like this, Seireitei would have their hands full and not all of them will survive. Still, it was an appropriate army for a powerful traitor who wants more power.

The female Arrancar then used both her hands to hold her _zanpaktou_ in front of her. "Bind them, Del Oscuro!"

I was shocked hearing that. She must have getting desperate to kill me. I charged at her again, but suddenly she grabbed both my hands. She then grabbed both my legs, which was a surprise. After that I began to notice her body.

Her body was still the same thinly figure. On her head, there were three pairs of bums; each pair was parallel to her eyes. What surprise me were her extra arms sticking out of the side of her body, holding my legs.

"Trying to kill me before I fully change, huh? I thank you for speeding up your death," she said as two other arms came out of her body.

Never since the academy had I felt afraid of being killed by a Hollow or even Arrancar. Fortunately, I got a trick up my sleeve.

"Strike, _Yuuhoshi_!!" I shouted. I sacrificed my body to transfer a lightning bolt to her, forcing her to let go of me.

"Willing to sacrifice your own body. I never thought a _Shinigami_ would do that."

"Would you?" I asked, trying to stand up. I never imagined it would be so painful. I actually made a deal with Yuuhoshi to use my body as a conductor. It all started when I was fighting against an _Adjuchas_. I was caught in a same position and almost got killed if it wasn't for my former platoon who saved my life. Since then, my instinct told me something like this could happen again, which I always hope would never happen.

She actually nodded in agreement. Suddenly some type of liquid came out from the four of her six palms and became sword-like weapons.

I fought again using my Shikai in midair, but I was no match for her and I was a fool. It was barely 15 seconds that she kicked me down to the ground. I was getting desperate and with all these wounds, I'm definitely getting weaker. My speed at _Shikai_ was about 100 times slower than her released form. My second command only gives her a shock of her life, but cannot hurt her.

I finally used my third command. As usual with all the Hollows and Arrancars that I fought with, she gave a slight reaction. However, she managed to block my attack and punch my abdomen. I was thrown about 30 metres away from her. I was unable to believe that she managed to deflect my attack after the command.

"I know that command. Almost all the opponents that you fought were killed by that. Those that managed to survive were seriously wounded to the brink of death. I would too if it wasn't for my eyes," she said as she opened all her eyes at her head. Surprised at seeing the eyes, I could guess what she was before she became an Arrancar. She was similar to a spider, but without the big thing at her bottom.

I don't want to do this, but I had no other way of defeating her.

"BANKAI!!" I shouted. A very bright light surrounded my body that it made me look like a miniature star landed on the ground. Electrical charges came along with the light.

As the light and the electrical charges died down, I was holding a _Guan Dao_. Luckily, she didn't strike me down when I gave that command. Instead, there was a shocking expression on her face. I smiled and said the full name, "_Amatsu Denkou Yuuhoshi_."

I fought again with renewed energy. This time, my speed was on par with her. I never thought I would have to resort to _Bankai_ just to beat her. As I landed on the ground, I suddenly noticed the ground was white and sticky. And I was stuck onto it. She was laughing at me and used her free hands to shoot some sort of white liquid towards me. I blocked it using _Yuuhoshi_, but the liquid seemed to stick onto my weapon. Now I know what the liquid was: spider webs. The webs begin to cover my entire body. I tried to cut it, but nothing happened.

She laughed again and said, "I had woven my webs to be stronger than any kind of metal and it will stick like superglue to any kind of surfaces. It is impossible for you to get rid of it anytime soon once it sticks on you." She then continued shooting her webs.

"Thousand Blades," I commanded. In this command, it was an upgraded version of my _Shikai_'s second command. My weapon disintegrated into a thousand electrical-charged blades and attacks the opponent at lightning speed. In this case, the blades gathered into one spot and managed to pierce through web and at the same time burned the rest of webs covering my body. It was another surprised for her.

"Find a weak spot and by applying the right pressure, anything could be broken, including metal. Electricity itself contains heat. The more _reiatsu_, the hotter it becomes; just enough to burn away your webs," as I said this, the blades were reformed into _Guan Dao_ again.

Each of her free hands then created a sword-like weapon. I then shouted the same command and aimed at her. She managed to create a shield just in time to move away before the shield crumbled. A rain of spikes came towards me. I avoided all the spikes as I gathered the blades of my weapon and changed it back to its original form. The spikes suddenly stopped and she appeared behind me.

"Blind them all," I shouted another command. This command was the same as the command in the _Shikai_ form, only upgraded. Instead of blinding my opponent with bright light only, tiny pieces of _Yuuhoshi_'s blade came off. The tiny pieces continuously gave out bright light and at the same time attack the opponent.

Throughout the years of training and fighting experience, I got used to seeing through the light and I can see that she backed away from me and covered her vitals with her webs. Despite the wounds that she received, she never seem to get disheartened fighting against me. Her vengeance and anger somehow strengthen her resolve to kill me.

This battle had been prolonged for a long time. With my wounds and much of my _reiatsu_ had been used, I can only hold my _Bankai_ for at least 5 minutes or use only one command. Still, the best thing right now was to end it once and for all.

"Let's end this battle," I told her, as I focused my remaining _reiatsu_ to my weapon and took an attacking stance.

"And I couldn't agree more," she replied. She then used her webs to create a spear-like weapon that looked longer than mine and aimed at me.

We charged. _Yuuhoshi_'s blade was embedded in her forehead with all her eyes looking at me in surprised. I remembered that I cut her weapon, but apparently it was not enough. It was sticking into my abdomen. Blood came out of my mouth and I slowly took her weapon out. Her entire body disappeared together with her weapon.

I'm no longer a _Shinigami_, but I never thought I would actually join the war against Aizen and his minions. Maybe I already did join by the time the three former _Taichou_s left to _Hueco Mundo_.

Anyway, my weapon became very heavy and I let it go before I fell to the ground. I got the feeling that this will be the time of my death and letting the demon go. Yet I knew some agents from Hell had been monitoring me all this while. My last thoughts at that moment were my family and friends and I wanted to see Yuki's face again.


	10. 9: Joining Part II

Bleach

Author's note: Read from the first chapter. This chapter is my second last chapter. Please read and give an overall review, I'm begging you. I just need your perspective about this story.

Bleach

Chapter 9: Joining, Part II

I woke up on a bed, smelling the same disinfectants that a hospital would have. I got up and there was nobody around. _4__th__ Division again, huh?_ This was odd, as the last time I remembered, I was lying on the ground after a battle. I heard footsteps getting nearer to my room and the door was opened. It was my brother-in-law, Ariga Saga

"You're awake? Great! I better tell the others."

I called out to him, but he left as fast as he came. Now that irritated me. _Fukutaichou_ Kotetsu came and checked my body again. From her, I found out that I was bedridden for 2 days. Thinking back, I was dying and wondered who saved me. That reminded me of the supermarket job and the training at the dojo. I wondered if anyone did something to them.

I was grateful that I was not given the limit restriction. I would have died if I was. I still don't know why the big guy didn't give me the restriction. Maybe it was because he taught me how to control my _reiatsu_ accordingly. Or maybe I was the 8th Seat. My friends and my former colleagues were glad to see me alive.

"Why am I still alive and brought here since I had been banished?" I asked.

"Your banishment was caused by insubordination to the Sotaichou. However, since Aizen's treachery, Yamamoto Sotaichou notified everyone about your role in the real world and that the insubordination case was just your cover. So when the resident Shinigami found you dying, they saved you. You should thank them as one of them was the former 9th Seat of 4th Division," said one of my former platoon members.

Well it was a good thing that he didn't mention about the Vizards. And the notification had probably encouraged anyone to save me. It seems that I owed the big guy a lot. I can figure that once my life was saved, I was brought back to _Seireitei_.

"I heard that the Arrancar you fought against was made by Aizen. How it is that you managed to defeat it?" asked one of my former colleagues.

"Experience, skills and luck."

"Really? You managed to beat an Arrancar created by Aizen using those only?"

"Well, the Arrancar was quite stupid." I lied. They looked at me in disbelief.

"A _Taichou_ using _Bankai_ took a hard time to beat one and you can by using _Shikai_ alone. Now we know that you're lying, Arisuke."

"Take all the time to guess, but being who we are, you certainly don't to waste your time in guessing, do you?"

"True. Well, I don't want to waste my time here and you certainly need more rest. Come on guys, I'm sure you got other things to do," the 8th Seat said as she left with the rest of the 1st Division members.

I was glad that she became more comfortable with her job now than a few months ago. My former platoon finally accepted her.

"Do you want to tell us how you did it, exactly?" asked Shikamuri, with Asuka waiting intently for the answer.

"I already told you. Isn't that enough?"

They got irritated, "We had been friends since the academy, Arisuke. Don't you trust us at all?"

"I trust you will see me differently, that's for sure. Now, can I just rest peacefully?"

With that said, they left. I know that they will eventually know about my _Bankai_, but it was better for me if they were kept in the dark for now.

Later, two Shinigamis came to my room. They were resident Shinigamis of my area. The same two people that saved my life.

"How you today?" one of them asked.

"Feeling better, thanks to you. What brings you here?"

"It is our responsibility, as a Shinigami, to check the person that we saved."

"Right," I said, nodding my head.

"Anyway, I'm Kondo and this is my partner, Katsura."

I shook my hand with them. "So, when did you arrive to save me?"

"A few minutes before the end."

"You saw my _Bankai_, didn't you?"

"What would you do if we did?"

"I'll treat you to dinner to shut you up."

"If we didn't?"

"I'll still treat you to dinner to show my thanks."

Both of them chuckled. "Don't worry. We came to help, that's all. Some other time perhaps, but I hold your word for it," Kondo said.

"A good use with the _Guan Dao_, though," said Katsura, suddenly.

So they saw. I smiled. "You know, both of you are among the five who knew about it and among the four who actually saw it."

"It was an honour then." They smiled back and left.

I was discharged the next day as I had been summoned by the big guy. There, I gave my full report to him. When I finished, he suddenly gave me a choice. Be a _Taichou_ if I want to stay in Soul Society or continue the assignment in the real world. From his voice, I can know that he wanted me to become a _Taichou_. However, he should know about me already. I was given three days to stay with my family before I head out to the real world again.

I was quite happy meeting my family, but I felt a bit empty without her. The scarf was still there on my table where I had left them. Hitomi did a good job in keeping the place clean without disturbing anything.

I arrived at the real world again, doing the same assignment and living at the same place. Well, I found out that my boss at the supermarket and the siblings at the dojo had been given false memories on why I disappeared for seven days. I was quite thankful and whoever did this had done it a few hours after my last battle. Sometimes, _Seireitei_ do surprise me in this kind of way. Having to visit my sister who was involved in an accident was a good ploy, but it was troublesome to actually keep up with these kinds of stories.

I continued on the assignment to the sixth month and still no movement from Aizen or his Arrancars. It was four days into the month that I received a report that another Arrancar activity had caused a stir in the real world.

It turned out to be a ruse just to kidnap one of the Shinigami representative's friends. I don't know what he wants from her, but I know that her powers were quite unusual for a human. Come to think of it, maybe he wants her to restore the orb to its original working order should it fail in some way.

It was during this time also that the Nikatama guy came to me. I was standing in front of a building, looking at it intently. I read the address again and it was correct. The address was on the other side of Okinawa and it took me a long time to search for it. All those trouble and the building was a small bookstore.

For a name like the _Fallen Crusade_, I was expecting something dark and gloomy, but the bookstore was very bright and there were at least six people inside checking out the books. I went in and gave the card at the counter. She looked at the card, took it and smiled at me. She then ushered me to a room.

It was brightly lit and quite colourful. There was a coffee table and two couches. It was more of a private discussion room for discussion groups. I waited for a while when Nikatama and another guy came in.

"You must be Arisuke Takahashi. My name is Tanabe Kinme," he said as he held out his hand.

"So, what is this all about, meeting me out of nowhere and wanting me to be here?" I asked without shaking his hand.

"Straight to the point. Once a 1st Division member, always a 1st Division member. Do you know exactly who we are?"

"Aside from former Shinigamis who are still loyal to _Seireitei_ banding and working together independently from _Seireitei_, this organisation is just a fleeting dream that can be destroyed easily in one swing of a weapon."

"What I meant was do you know ourselves in the inside?"

I got lost hearing that question. Part of me somehow knew what he meant.

He smiled, "We're like you, Arisuke. _Shinigami_s that had demons sealed into their bodies. This fact is the reason why we formed this organisation."

I was shocked to hear that. I know that there were 19 others that shared the similar fate. "How many people did you find so far?"

"If you join us, you'll be our 11th member."

"11? I thought there would be around 20."

"You talked to it, haven't you?" he smiled. "All of us did to our own."

"What made all of you do this?"

He thought for a moment and a story began. Kinme and a fellow Crusader were the founding members of the organisation, but what had initiated them was something unexpected.

Kinme was out on the field doing his assignment when he met one of the core Death Lords of Hell. Having a Death Lord to come to the real world to personally talk to you was something that happened once in a lifetime. That meeting was his first and last meeting with the Death Lord.

Throughout his military service in _Seireitei_ until his resignation, he had received detail information on our history, the demons and which demon went to whom. From the information, he met and talked to his co-founder about this and both decided to form an organisation. With the information sent to him being constantly updated, he managed to find 8 others who also worked in the _Gotei 13_. As for the remaining 9, three were living in _Rukongai_ while the rest were somewhere in the real world.

With 10 members in line, all of them finally quit their job and left _Soul Society_ 300 years ago. Still, they somehow managed to get some contact in _Seireitei_. Since then, they had been doing what any _Shinigami_ do, but with their own style and belief. I felt strange that nobody enquire about 10 people quitting their jobs at the same time.

As for me, they already know everything about me before I died. The truth was, if I didn't join Seireitei, they wouldn't have care about me at all. Since I joined, they were actually waiting for the right time to persuade me to join the _Fallen Crusade_. When they heard that I resigned, they had been trying to contact with me all this while. They had just found out my sister's home address when I was sent to the real world. I didn't know that they had a branch in Okinawa.

According to Kinme also, the Loyalist agents were actually nothing much of a help. They will do anything to save the host, but not at the cost of them being found out. The agents also tend to not to help the host if the host were able to take care of itself or any kind of help were in the way. This explained why I was admitted to the hospital three times because of fatal wounds.

I also found out that the extraction ritual of a demon was actually fast and easy. A special glove was used to open up the soul and a special diamond was used to extract the demon out. The glove was created in a way that it won't damage the soul. The diamond itself was created to be strong enough to withhold the powers of the demon for about a month. These two things were given to each agent.

I never thought that the technology from Hell could be that advanced and also mass produced these kind of things. Hell must be very powerful to have these things created. The glove was somehow familiar to a glove used by Aizen to extract the orb from the Kuchiki member, but yet the purpose was different. I wondered if the former _Taichou_ of the 12th Division had some contacts with Hell. I also wondered about what other things that Hell managed to create.

Joining them was not my idea of protecting the real world and Soul Society since I'm still technically working for the big guy. Still, they taught me how to initiate communication with my demon and with that ability, I had made a deal with Sesshouhane to use his powers more often at my will. The demonic power increased my _reiatsu_, stamina, strength and speed which were familiar with that day long ago.

To signify that I can use this power, a human shape tattoo appeared on my right arm with wings spreading across my right shoulder. Each member had a similar yet different design of tattoo at different part of their bodies. At first I thought the tattoo was just like that, but every time I used the powers, the tattoo grew in size. The more I use the power, the bigger it gets.

There was nothing much to train at all in using demon power; I just need to use the massive power slowly. Still, with the war against Aizen expected to be around winter, I don't think I can fully use the demon power. Even though I can take time off from work and classes, it won't be enough for me.

It was in the middle of the month that I received a report from _Seireitei_ that the Shinigami representative and the rest of his friends had infiltrated _Hueco Mundo_. Knowing what Aizen's experiments could do, I don't think that he and his friends could save her. It was a good thing to try, but in a life-or-death situation, once a person fail, the person will die. Apparently, the former Taichou of 12th Division was the one who created the portal to _Hueco Mundo_. I didn't know that he could do that without any proper help.

I also heard that all 4 _Taichou_s from the 4th, 6th, 11th and 12th Divisions were sent to assist the Shinigami representative. I was totally shocked by the news. The big guy was willing to sent assistance to the representative after he defied orders. All these years of knowing him as strict disciplinarian who followed orders unquestionably and disliked anyone who disobeyed him, he seemed to be getting soft.

It was almost a day after I received the news that the big guy called me. The big guy was rallying all the help _Seireitei_ can get. After so many years of acting independently, the big guy wanted me to act on behalf of _Seireitei_ to persuade the organisation to join the war against Aizen since I already told him about my membership. As loyal as the _Fallen Crusade_, of course they would join in the fight.

Two days later, I heard a report from the _Fallen Crusade_ that the whole population of Karakura Town had been evacuated to _Soul Society_. Apparently, this was ordered by the big guy himself to make the actual town itself to be a battlefield. From this revelation, all the members of the _Fallen Crusade_ immediately went to the town.

There, we saw the remaining leaders of _Gotei_ 13 fighting against three _Espada_ and their _Fraccion_. I didn't see Aizen or his two close subordinates. But then again, they might have been trapped in the firewall.

I noticed a multiple _reiatsu_, which was similar yet different. It was the _Vizard_s, I'm sure, but it radiated differently as if it were different people. And it was. Strangely, I recognised these _Vizard_s. They were the ones that learned the illegal way and escaped to the real world at the same time as former _Taichou_s of 3rd, 12th and _Kidou_ Corp. In a way they can be considered as criminals, but if they were, why were they fighting against the blind and the fox face? And I see the two were doing a fine job of holding them up.

One thing that surprised me and obviously the rest of the _Fallen Crusade_ was the ability that the two had; the ability to use Hollow powers. Seeing them using it was unexpected and with these power they somehow managed to beat the _Vizard_s easily.

We immediately activate both our _Bankai_ and our demon powers. I don't know how, but the demon power gave me heightened senses, which I didn't notice before. The power let me see through Aizen's hypnotism and act through it. Because of this ability, we all saw where he was. He was in the middle of a ritual and we certainly don't want him to finish it.

We separated into three groups. Two groups fought off the two subordinates while Nikatama, Kinme and I fight with him. True to his style, he used the hypnotism, but we managed to deflect his attacks which were a surprise to him. As expected from a _Taichou_-level traitor, he managed to hold us off. We increased our demon power usage and Aizen began to slow down. Eventually he used his _Bankai_ and we eventually increased our usage. This time, it was much longer, but slowly his defences crumbled. There was anger in his face mixed with the inability to comprehend our powers.

Suddenly he made a stand; a stand which I recognised as a person who wants called a new power. I charged at him, but seeing the white of his mask, I called out my _Bankai_ lightning command as it was much faster.

_Yuuhoshi_ stabbed him pretty badly, yet he managed to survive. There was one thing I never thought I would do; I knew that as long as Aizen was alive, he'll still have that kind of dangerous ambition. So, thinking that the future would be better without him, I decapitated his head to make sure that he was really dead.

Seeing Aizen dead and most of the _Arrancar_s they brought along had been defeated, both the blind and the fox face surrendered, along with the remaining Arrancars. Thus end Aizen threat. Hopefully, there won't be another person like him.

It was quite a disappointment actually that this group of _Vizard_s were not as powerful as I thought they would be. And another disappointment that only this group appeared. After all that pledging to me, he and his friend didn't even appear and I was a fool to believe him. And I quit my job because of him. However, I found out later that the two _Vizard_s and their group had been assigned to protect Karakura's population that was unconsciously placed in Soul Society. It was just another step of precaution, just in case Aizen might came back to take souls.

Well, half of the town was destroyed during the battle and right now, it was taking its time to be rebuilt. The Shinigami representative, his friends and the 4 _Taichou_ managed to come back to the real world with the help of the current and former 12th Division _Taichou_.

Everything became normal again. It was hard to imagine that all of us had trained and sacrificed for this man. Now that it was over, I felt slightly empty and glad too that I can finally live in peace.


	11. 10: 10 Years Later

Author's note: Read from the first chapter.

Bleach

Chapter 10: 10 Years Later

The blind man and the fox face had been sentenced to life imprisonment. With the orb being recovered and the help of Kisuke Urahara, both of them had been stripped of their Hollow powers. With the sealing of their _reiatsu_, it became easier to monitor them. Right now, I can expect _Huenco Mundo_ to greatly lessen their infiltration to the real world.

As for Karakura Town, it had been rebuilt within three days. It was understandable on why Aizen chose this town to collect so many souls. This town was one of the highest concentrated areas of _reiatsu_ in the whole of Japan.

The _Shinigami_ representative's father had revealed himself to be former _Taichou_ of the 10th Division. It was a surprise to everyone, especially the boy. That revelation explained the main reason on why the boy got his own _Shinigami_ power. It was not strange to have a powerful _reiatsu_, but it was certainly strange to have your own _Shinigami _power. Knowing his reaction, I knew that this boy was not street wise even though he's good in fighting. Didn't he even try to figure out how he got it? I was also surprised to hear that the boy get depressed easily, even after so many things that happened in his life. With all those tragedies, I thought that he could be mentally strong. I was wrong.

So everything went back to normal. For the _Shinigami_ representative and his friends, all of them went back to school and stayed most of their time in the real world. The boy's father refused to rejoin _Seireitei_ even though he was offered better benefits, stating that he had done what he had done in the past and wished to be that way.

So did the former _Taichou_ of the 12th Division. As usual for the _Vizard_s, they refused to be part of Seireitei. Even though the _Vizard_s that I know had sworn loyalty to Seireitei, they rather had the freedom than being control by anyone. For the other group of _Vizard_s, their hatred for _Seireitei_ ran too deep that they refused to speak to anyone from there. They were still interested in the boy though.

The female Kuchiki had remained to resume her position as the resident _Shinigami_ of the Karakura Town. With so many people protecting the town, I think its overkill. I wondered why all the action happened only at that place while there were a few others in Japan.

My assignment was finally over. I was still given a choice to become a _Taichou_ of a division. This time around, I really considered for the position. However, I just got tired of the entire hectic schedule that I finally left _Seireitei_ officially. Even though I wanted to stay with my sister, I felt that I was more productive working in the real world than doing nothing at all in Soul Society. Besides, I felt more comfortable living here.

During this time in the real world, my life had become much better. At the dojo, I finally became an instructor. I didn't know that becoming one needed a certificate and some sort of license. My position at the supermarket was still the same though. It was expected since I became a part timer.

Well, the dojo became quite popular lately since we joined the prefecture championships. Maybe it was because of our improved performance. Whatever the reason, we had to rent another place to answer the overcrowded dojo. With so many students signing up, the Kiba siblings had to promote more experience students to work under me since I was put in charge in the new place.

The dojo had been joining the prefecture championships for the past five years since I decided stay in the real world. Due to our improved performance in the prefecture championship, the dojo managed to get promoted to the national championships in the fifth year. That year was one of the happiest times for me. We managed to get 6th place out of 61 participants that joined. And this was actually our first try in the nationals.

My manager at the supermarket was an understanding person. He respected me for working hard and because I reminded him of his younger self, he gave me a period of paid leave every time the dojo joined in these championships. He certainly knew that this type of championships could take 3 to 4 days.

It was a month after the national event that I was approached again at the supermarket. This time, the person was a representative of a chancellor for a university. Apparently, the chancellor saw our performance and was engrossed by it.

Knowing that I was the leading instructor, the chancellor wanted to hire me as a kendo instructor for the university. I was actually happy and annoyed by the offer. Happy because this offer was a testament of my hard work and the pay that the chancellor offered was three times the pay of both my position in the dojo and supermarket combined. Annoyed because I was the only one that gained the recognition and not the rest of the instructors.

Obviously, I do not want to work in the supermarket anymore as I worked long hours and paid little for it. I still want to work for the dojo, but Ryuusuke encouraged me to take the offer. It was for the best though, for me and Izumi. She at least won't disturb me anymore and I won't be her distraction from her studies.

I decided to take the job at the university. Since the university was at the other side of the country, I had to quit my position at the dojo. However, I still made contact with the siblings. Life had been fair to me, but I do have some low points during my stay in the real world. But that was the fun in life, wasn't it?

10 years had past since the Aizen rebellion. Working at the university for five years was nice. It was like back in _Seireitei_, but in reverse roles and with a broader range of languages and cultures. Even some of the lecturers were foreigners. A lot of students come and go. I was happy when students achieved good grades academically and performed well in sports, especially in kendo.

Thinking about kendo, I remembered the first time I came to this university. The university's kendo club was doing okay, but did not achieve the result that was expected of them. At that time, the club was consistently between 26th and 30th place in the national competition. However under my tutelage, the members of the club performed better than expected and right now the club was among the top 10. Nothing could ever give great pride than this.

I never tasted winter for a long time. Okinawa never had winter, but it does have those beautiful beaches to replace it. I missed all the short walks and exercise runs that I made in those beaches. I missed a lot of things in Okinawa, yet I had no regrets about it. Same goes to Soul Society.

What surprised me while working here was Izumi. As far as I know, she was studying in another university in a different part of the country. She applied and got a transfer to study at this university for her final two years on a bachelorship. Apparently her brother doesn't know this and she kept insisting that she came here to study. Yet her eyes told me that she still had hopes to be close to me.

I don't know what I have that attracted them, but I constantly received a lot of attention and presents from female students. Even one of the female lecturers had taken a liking to me. Having a good-looking, petite 30 year old lecturer to like me made me think of the possibility of moving on with my life. It was about 13 years already since Yuki left, and I think it was high time for me to have a new relationship.

I don't know why but I feel comfortable being with the lecturer. Amusingly, she was one of the instructors for jujitsu. I felt surprised by this as kendo and jujitsu always go together in samurai training. I wonder if our relationship could go further.

Going through those years gave me a lot of memories and knowledge. The three empty _Taichou_ seats in the _Gotei_ 13 had been filled up and I had no regrets of not taking one of the seats. Amazingly, my brother-in-law, Ariga Saga had been promoted to 3rd Seat of the 3rd Division. My two friends, Asuka Tenzen and Shikamuri Nara, were both promoted to 4th Seat in their respective divisions. Hearing their promotions made me happy for them. I still wonder if they achieved _Bankai_.

Nothing much happen to my sister and her family, but out of her concern, there were just some urgings for me to come back to Soul Society. Ariga managed to get his second child just last year. Having the responsibilities of a 3rd Seat and a father of two children, he looked more mature now. I'm glad for him.

I'm still part of the _Fallen Crusade_ and occasionally one of them would visit me. Three new members had been found and joined the organization. It certainly takes a long time to find them. As for the _Vizard_s, I never heard from them for a long time. I'm glad though for them to disappear.

I felt thankful that nothing big happened in this part of the country. Except for a few Hollows and Arrancars that were easily dispatched, there was nothing that would arouse suspicion. Strangely, in the Karakura, there were a few big things that happened there. Now I find this stupid and ridiculous. _Why do things like that happened only in that particular town? Is there no other place that can happen, huh?_

It was almost four weeks since the lecturer and I became closer. My apartment was just a walking distance from the university that I usually walk. While I walking home from work, I heard a female voice calling my name. The voice was different than anyone that I know, yet oddly similar. It sounded like a voice that I know a long time ago.

I turned towards the voice and there she was. The same hair, the same face and the same physique.

It was Yuki.


End file.
